Maybe
by purplekeys
Summary: Seeing her happy was the best feeling he knew he could ever have, he just wished that her happiness lied with him. What would you do if you found the love of your life, but she had already found hers in someone else?
1. Chapter 1

**Maybe**

Seeing her happy was the best feeling he knew he could ever have, he just wished that her happiness lied with him. What would you do if you found the love of your life, but she had already found hers in someone else?

**Chapter One**

"If I were to tell you right now, that I didn't want you to leave, would you go anyway?" he asks her across the room, with a sense of desperation in his voice.

His hands start to become clammy as he holds the microphone in his hand, suddenly aware of the hundreds of pairs of eyes that are on him. But he continues anyway.

"Would it matter to you if I said that?"

He starts making his way across the dance floor, his eyes on the girl he fell in love with at fifteen.

"Would it make you want to stay? Or would it further demonstrate to you that we are over?"

He begins making his way through the white chairs to get closer to her.

"Would it make you realise that I really don't mean anything to you anymore, showing me that you actually broke up with me because you no longer care and not just because you are moving away?"

Haley shifts in her seat, her body tingling all over.

"I'm asking you because I don't think you want us to be over" he continues, staring into her dark brown eyes.

"I think you're pretending that you do because you think it will be easier for me," he finally makes his way up to where she is sitting, "and for you", he adds.

"Well it won't be easier for me; nothing is easy when you're not around" he says with so much emotion in his voice.

Haley's heart skips a beat.

"I've know that since the first time you tutored me, three years ago".

Brooke starts to go weak at the knees at his words, wishing she was in Haley's position right now. This was definitely a moment that she would always be envious of her for.

"And you think it will be easier for you, not to have to worry about keeping up a long distance relationship".

Every guy in the room was in awe of the brave boy with the microphone, knowing they would never have the courage to do what he is doing in front of all these people.

"But we can make it work Hales. If you really want to leave I will come with you. I would follow you anywhere, but if you don't want me to come in case it could jeopardise your opportunity, I can deal with that" he says, clearly meaning every word.

"I'm saying all this because, Haley" his voice lowers, intensify his words,

"I don't want you to leave and I really hope that what I'm saying makes you want to stay".

He watches as a single tear falls from her eye.

"I love you" he whispers into the microphone.

Her eyes never leave his, as Haley tries to formulate a sentence in response to the most romantic thing anyone has ever said to her.

"So will you stay? Or will you let me come with you?" he pleadingly searches for an answer in her expression.

There is a period of silence, which feels like a year to him and a micro-second to Haley.

The whole room is awaiting her response.

"Yes," she stammers out, "yes I will stay. I will stay here with you", tears now streaming from her face.

He lets out a sigh of relief and then smiles the brightest smile Haley has ever seen on his face.

She lets out a small laugh and gets up out of her seat as he pulls her into a hug, twirling her around as they embrace.

Once he places her back down on her feet, he plants a passionate kiss on her lips. Everyone starts clapping and cheering as they press their foreheads together.

"I love you Haley, we can make it through anything" he says, unable to take the smile off his face.

"We don't have to be apart, ever"

"I love you too, Chase" she replies, smiling.

Nathan watches with jealousy from across the room as the two of them start kissing once again. He had hardly ever spoken to her before. Ever since they started high school he watched her, wanting her, but she was the only girl Nathan Scott had ever been nervous to talk to. He is the captain of the basketball team and everyone stares at him with awe whenever he walks into class, except for her. She just continues reading her book or listening to the teacher. Only sometimes, very rarely, on the days Nathan considers himself extremely lucky, she might throw a glance his way.

He always sees her with his half-brother Lucas, talking and laughing. He knows they are best friends but Nathan doesn't want to ask Lucas about her as they are only just starting to get along. Nathan and Lucas never spoke to one another before the start of this year, but were forced to start when Lucas joined the Ravens. Their father, Dan Scott, managed to impregnate both their mothers within three months of each other eighteen years ago. However Dan decided to stay with Deb, Nathan's mother, and abandon Lucas and his mother Karen. Dan is an extremely overbearing parent to Nathan, constantly pushing him to be better and it is for this reason alike that both of his sons hate him. It was also the reason Nathan and Lucas always hated each other but after Lucas joined the basketball team they realised they had a lot more in common than they initially thought.

Haley and Lucas always being together always used to make Nathan's blood boil, thinking they had an unseen romance, but after getting to know Lucas he realised they were only friends. He was still jealous of Lucas spending so much time with her though. But nothing compared to the amount of jealously he felt when her saw her with Chase. In their freshman year, Nathan noticed Chase watching her almost as much as he did himself. He watched when Chase started speaking to her and sitting with her at lunch until the day when he finally plucked up the courage to ask her out. Nathan would never forget the feeling he had in the pit of his stomach the next day when he saw the two of them walking into school together, holding hands.

Not that Nathan can be completely pitiable though. If there are two things Nathan Scott is known for, they are basketball and girls. Everybody in town knows how good Nathan is at basketball and the gym is always stacked with people cheering for him at every game, but Nathan is notorious for the girls he gets at the parties after the games. None of them ever mean anything to him and he never calls them the next day or asks any of them to be his girlfriend, but he figures why not? It's not like Haley is ever going to be interested in him anyway and maybe one day, one of the girls he meets might make him feel the slightest bit like Haley does and eventually push her out of his brain. But Nathan knows that is just a fantasy, he's never going to feel the way he does about Haley about anyone else.

Nathan walks out of Tree Hill High's Junior Prom, unable to watch the scene any longer. Theresa, his date, comes trailing out after him.

"Nathan, what are you doing? It's not over for another couple of hours" she questions, still behind him.

Nathan turns around.

"Sorry, I just need some fresh air, I'll be back inside in a minute".

"Oh Okay, well don't stay out here too long!"

Theresa skips back inside, leaving Nathan to ponder his thoughts.


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey guys, thans so much to those who reviewed. This is my first story so it was really nice to hear the positive feedback coz I was quite nervous! Haha. Sorry I didn't update sooner but I've been on a long holiday, so updates will be more frequent from now on :)**

**Okay well, I hope you like it!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters or ideas from One Tree Hill used in this story. That all belongs to Mark Schwaun and the rest.**

**Chapter Two**

"I hate you"

"What?"

"You're so lucky. I mean, why can't I be that lucky? Boys never say big romantic speeches like that to me in front our entire class" Brooke said enviously.

Haley laughed.

She was still tingling from Friday night, even though they were on their way to school on Monday morning.

She kind of didn't even feel like it was real. It was such a movie moment that it hadn't even registered with her yet.

Haley smiled at the thought of seeing Chase in just a few minutes.

"I mean, I'm totally hot enough and if anyone tries to say the whole 'it's what on the inside that counts' load of crap," Brooke continued speaking at a high speed, but Haley was used to it, "then they're idiots. I mean anyone who has spoken to me for more than ten seconds knows that I have the personality of like, twenty people".

"Yeah, definitely have to agree with you there" Haley laughed.

"Hmm, boys. It's such a wonder that they were once thought to be the superior sex. I mean seriously. Most of them don't know even know the difference between two plus two and two times two." Brooke continued on like this until they got to school.

"So anyway, what did you and Chase do after the prom on Friday night?" Brooke asked suggestively as they drove into the Tree Hill High parking lot.

"Brooke!"

"What? Come on I want details. Your place or his?"

Haley laughed, "Mine. He actually has parents living at his house remember."

"Oh right. I forgot that other people actually have normal families that live with them" Brooke said as they got out of the car.

Haley and Brooke walked through the parking lot and into the school grounds talking animatedly, attracting attention from every guy that saw them as per usual.

One guy in particular was completely absorbed in Haley as she walked past.

Nathan watched her walk across the courtyard, laughing and looking beautiful just like everyday. She and Brooke were heading his way.

Haley accidentally bumped Nathan's shoulder as they walked past him.

"Sorry" she said quickly, turning around for a brief moment to see who it was she bumped.

Nathan froze for a few seconds.

'_She touched me. She talked to me. Okay, she just touched me AND she talked to me. This is going to be a good day for Nathan'_ he thought.

"It's, uh, it's fine!" he replied too enthusiastically, too late as she was already at least fifteen feet away from him and talking animatedly with Brooke.

"Oh my god, Nathan is so hot!" Brooke squealed.

"Hmm?"

"Nathan! How could you 'hmm' Nathan? The guy you just bumped into? He's practically a God around here."

"Oh right, yeah well I've never really spoken to him" Haley replied.

"Like that matters! You still have eyes and anyone that does can clearly tell that he's gorgeous. Seriously, why can't he just ask me out? Or at least try to hook up with me. I mean, I'm head cheerleader and he's the captain of the basketball team and he has gone for every other girl on the squad except for you."

"Maybe he thinks we are diseased or something" Haley joked.

Brooke's mouth fell open, clearly not understanding Haley's sarcasm.

"I'm kidding! And I mean, if anything he'd be the one with the disease knowing his reputation"

Brooke's expression remained unchanged.

"Look, he probably figures that I have a boyfriend so there's no point in trying and you, well he might be saving you for a special occasion!"

"Special occasion? That's the worst made-up reason I've ever heard for not being asked out!"

Haley laughed.

"Okay well, maybe he sees you as way too good for him because you're so popular and beautiful and he cares way too much about you to ask you out and then give you herpes or some other STI he is sure to be carrying around".

"You're learning, that was a much better answer." Brooke smiled.

"Not that Nathan would have a disease, let alone _anything _wrong with him" Brooke added.

Haley rolled her eyes before she heard a familiar voice in her ear.

"Hello beautiful" Chase smiled, kissing her on the cheek.

"Hello" Haley turned and smiled as she faced him.

"Okay well that's my cue to leave, don't need to see that so early in the day. See you in Calculus Tutor Girl!" Brooke yelled, walking down the hallway.

Chase then grabbed Haley's hand and led her to her locker.

"Nathan, Lucas, Jake!"

The boys cringed at Whitey's voice.

"What are you doing in here, putting on makeup? Quick get into the gym" their coach yelled.

The boys ran out of the change room and into the gym and proceeded to do sprints alongside their teammates.

The cheerleaders were stretching on the side of the court.

"I'm thinking I should ask Jake to go to the party with me on Friday night" Rachel said while opening checking Jake out as he ran. "He totally looks like he could keep up with me".

Haley looked at Brooke and rolled her eyes.

Brooke giggled.

"He doesn't look as though he wants to be sick in bed and not able to play basketball though, which is what's sure to happen after he shares your bodily fluids" Peyton quipped as she walked into the gym, dumping down her bag and sitting on the floor to do stretches with the other girls.

Brooke laughed aloud this time and gave Peyton a high-five.

Rachel gave them both a dirty look.

"Bitches."

Haley just watched on smiling.

"So Peyt, who you going to the party with on Friday?" Brooke asked.

"I was thinking I might ask Julian."

"Julian?" Brooke raised her eyebrows. "Do you like him?"

"Haha, no no. But he's nice enough to hang out with for the night and I don't really have anyone else in mind" Peyton lied, sneaking a glance at Lucas on the court.

_Maybe seeing me with Julian will make him jealous at the party. Oh, don't be stupid Peyton he hardly even notices you as a girl. You're just a friend to him. Not even. More like a casual friend._

"Oh, okay then" Brooke's words snapped Peyton out of her trance.

Brooke's suddenly accelerated heart rate began to slow back down. She wasn't even sure why the thought of Peyton and Julian together had made her nervous, but she did know Julian made her feel funny whenever he was around. Besides Nathan, he was the only one on the basketball team she hadn't been with and again, she wasn't really sure why. She'd always thought Julian was gorgeous, so much that he may even be a rival for Nathan, and from the occasional smiles she got from him in Biology she knew he didn't mind her either. That was more than enough to make her go for it with any guy usually, but something about Julian made her pull back. Maybe it was that funny little feeling she got in the pit of her stomach when she was around him, or maybe it was the worlds way of telling her it wasn't meant to happen. But somewhere, deep down inside her, Brooke subconciously knew it was because he meant more to her than the rest of the boys and she didn't want to ruin what could one day be a great thing.

"Yeah, Julian will be cool with that. He really is nice and he told me when I was with Chase before that he wasn't going with anyone." Haley told Peyton.

"Great," Peyton replied. "and speaking of you and Chase! OH MY GOD. I completely hate you! That was the _most _adorable thing I've ever heard!"

"I know, right?" Brooke chimed in. "I have invisioned that moment and those words being said in my head more times than I've looked in the mirror – which I'm sure you all know is a lot – and never once, have I foreseen it happening to anyone other than me!"

All the cheerleaders laughed.

"Honestly Haley! Way to steal. I mean you're Tutor Girl but let's be honest I'm the cuter girl!" Brooke wickedly grinned.

Everyone laughed again at Brooke's lame joke.

"You wish Brooke, Haley's just as hot as you" Peyton laughed.

"I know, I'm just jealous." Brooke smiled at Haley.

Haley just laughed at the whole conversation.

"So how did it feel Haley? The moment and everything." Theresa questioned with bright eyes. "Did you feel like, everything wrong with the world just faded away?"

"Or like you could've just died?" Ava, another cheerleader piped in.

Suddenly all the girls on the squad were throwing questions her way.

"Or like even though you know you still have lots of stuff to sort out and work through, it didn't matter if you had each other?"

"Did you feel like Juliet to his Romeo?"

"Or Sandy to his Danny?"

"Rose to his Jack?"

"Blair to his Chuck?"

"Allie to his Noah?"

"Or did you just feel complete?" Brooke asked, causing everyone to go silent. "Like, even if you died tomorrow, who cared because life had already gotten the best it could possibly get? Like thunder and lightning would never be scary anymore because you knew he would always be there to protect you? Like everybody in the world was spinning at completely different paces, yet the both of you were at the exact same standstill? Or like becoming old and immobile was no longer a fear you had, because in that moment you knew that when that day comes he will be holding your hand in that rocking chair beside you. And he would still be holding it when you take your final breath."

Even though the gym was noisy due to basketball practise, to everyone of those girls it was as silent as the dead of night. Every cheerleader in the room was just simply staring at Brooke, each of them holding that funny feeling right at the spot of their hearts. That feeling of want, of desire. That yearning of what they were sure proved life meant something. The one thing that ensures good will eventually conquer evil everytime. Whoever says they don't believe in love is crazy. Anybody who doesn't want to feel any of the things Brooke just said _had _to be insane.

"Woah," Peyton said, breaking the silence. "Brooke where did you hear that from?"

"Nowhere. It's just what I want. I told you, I think about these kinds of things all the time. Past all the crap, highschool drama and jokes that people make; at the end of the day, I think love is the only thing everybody still wants. The only thing that is always there." Brooke replied to Peyton's question softly, but she held such determination and hope in her voice that you knew she truly believed every word she was saying.

Everyone smiled at Brooke. Who knew she had it in her?

"That's really nice Brooke." Peyton said before breaking the atmosphere. "But seriously, who the hell said Blair to his Chuck? How can you possibly put _those _two at the same standards as the others?"

The girls laughed.

"Shut up Peyton, I know you say you hate it but I can see when you watch Gossip Girl with me that you totally love it." Brooke laughed.

Haley was silent the entire time. She had a million thoughts racing through her head. They started as soon as Theresa asked the first question. As, while Chase's speech was indescribably beautiful and made her entire body tingle with excitement, the world's problems didn't just fade away. _Her _problems didn't just fade away. She gave up an oppurtunity to go to the most prestigious summer music school in the country for the next three months on a scholarship to stay here with Chase. Haley couldn't even put into words how desperately she wanted to go but she had already said no. She rang the Los Angeles School of Performance first thing on Saturday morning to tell them she wouldn't be seeing them in a few weeks time and it broke her heart. But Chase didn't understand that. _What are you saying Haley? He didn't _know _how badly you wanted it. How can you be thinking negatively of him after the other night? Mean!_

Haley however, couldn't deny sharing that same feeling of want that the other girls had when Brooke spoke. Like she didn't already have what Brooke was describing with Chase. She thought she had until she actually heard it out loud. It pained her to think about it, but she was nowhere close to 'just dying' as Ava had put it on Friday night. And everything about her music school and her future still worried Haley in that moment, even if she did have Chase. She didn't feel like Sandy, Rose, Aliie or even Blair. She just felt like Haley. And he, well he just felt like Chase. Not her Danny, Jack, Noah or Chuck. He didn't even feel like _her _Chase. He was just Chase. Wonderful, gorgeous, sometimes naive and oblivious Chase. And that made Haley wonder. Wonder if that maybe that guy for her was still out there somewhere.

Maybe.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**

**Thanks to those who reviewed! Here is the new chapter, Hope you enjoy.**

**AN: Haley's thoughts are in non-bold italics while Nathan's are in bold italics.**

Beep. Beep. Beep.

Haley groaned.

"What the hell?" she said tiredly, refusing to open her eyes.

She reached behind her, still with her eyes closed, and pulled at the pillow behind her head before putting it over her ears to drown out the awful noise.

Chase felt his pillow move out from underneath his head and after hitting the bed hard, he immediately sprang up.

"Sorry!" he said groggily then turned off the alarm.

"Mmm, what time is it?" Haley asked, her head still wedged between the two pillows.

"Way to early to even think about getting up" Chase replied, grabbing his pillow back from her before draping his arm over her waist.

Haley snuggled back down into him, until her phone rang.

"Eurgh" they both said at the same time.

Haley answered the phone. "What?"

She was too tired to even remember how to be nice.

"Oh, isn't that a charming way to answer the phone?" Haley heard her mothers voice say.

"Thought I raised you better than that Haley-Bop."

Haley's eyes shot open.

"Sorry, I'm just tired. What's up?"

"Does something have to be up for me to call my daughter?"

"Uh, it does when you call me at 7 am on a Saturday" Haley said into the phone.

"Oh, Bitch really is your middle name in the mornings isn't it?"  
"Mum! Seriously, what do you want?" Haley said, getting frustrated.

"Okay, okay. Well, I know you're going to be upset but..."

_Oh no. What is it now?_

"your father and I won't be able to make it back next weekend. We are returning the next Tuesday instead."

"What! Why? You're supposed to take me to Charlotte on Friday night!" Haley yelled.

Chase looked at her with concern.

_Honestly, the one time I actually ask something parent-like of them and they can't even be here to do it!_

"I know Haley and we are really very sorry but our friends, Paul and Claire Daniels, you remember them don't you? Well they invited us on a week long cruise! They entered some competition and they won out of all the chances and they get to invite 15 friends."

"Well that's great for _you_, but what am supposed to do about Charlotte?" Haley asked bitterly.

"Catch the train?" her mother asked.

"Trains to Charlotte only run till three thirty on Fridays"

"Well I'm sure one of your friends can drive you!"

"Argh!" Haley was angry now.

"Fine, whatever I'll talk to you later."

Haley hung up the phone before she even heard her mothers response. Next Friday night, Haley was planning on going to a Sheryl Crowe concert with her cousin Aimee who lived in Charlotte. Aimee is one year older than Haley, but they have always been very close and have been too busy to catch up recently because of their hectic social lives and school work. The concert was the perfect time to do that before Aimee finished her senior year. Or at least, it _was _the perfect time to do that.

"What's wrong?" Chase asked.

"Oh, my parents were supposed to drive me to Charlotte next Friday night remember? Well now, apparently they have a better offer!"

Haley was mad.

"I was really looking forward to seeing Aimee" she said upset, while calming down.

"Oh babe, I'm sorry. You know I'd drive you but it's my dads birthday dinner that night."

"Yeah, yeah I know. Don't worry about it, it's not your fault."

"Can't Brooke or Peyton drive you? Or Lucas?"

"There's a party on Friday night, everyones going. Well except us, I guess."

"Oh yeah, I'd forgotten about that. Well don't worry, you'll figure something out." Chase said, lying back down.

_Great, yeah thanks Chase. So helpful. Well there's no way I'll be able to go back to sleep now._

The following days flew by and before Haley knew it, it was Thursday and she still hadn't found a way to get to Charlotte the following evening. There was no way she was paying for a taxi to go all that way. _Unless, I could maybe-possibly-I-seriously-doubt-I-could persuade Taylor to drive me..._ Haley walked into the kitchen to find her sister eating breakfast.

"Woah what are you doing awake this early?" Haley asked, looking at her with confusion.

"Josh and the guys are picking me up, the Summer Tunes Music Festival is on this weekend and we want to get there before tonight."

_Well, there goes that idea. But hang on.._

"So you won't be needing your car this weekend?" Haley asked hopefully.

Taylor spun to face her sister.

"You can't use it."

"Why? That's so unfair, it's not like you'll be needing it anyway!"

"Yes, but Ryan will."

"Who the hell is Ryan?"

"Just this guy I know who I said could borrow my car for the weekend."

'_Just this guy I know' in Taylor language really means 'just this guy I slept with'._

Haley rolled her eyes.

"Dammit!"

"What about your car Hales?"

"It broke down last week, it won't be ready for at least another five days." Haley said sourly and turned away from her sister, grabbed her bag and headed towards the front door.

"Haley, don't walk out the house with that expression or the wind will change and you'll be stuck looking like that forever! And everyone who has eyes will tell you that that's not a good way to be stuck."

"Yeah well, everyone who has eyes will tell _you _that you look like you just came from a street corner!"

With that, Haley left the house and went to school.

It wasn't until the lunch bell rang that Haley's mood changed. While standing at her locker putting her books away, Haley overheard Jared Simmons talking to Nathan Scott about his plans for that weekend. She didn't really take much notice until she heard the word 'Charlotte' used. With that her ears pricked up.

"Nathan you going to the game in Charlotte tomorrow night I hear?"

"Yeah, my dad scored us some courtside seats. Should be good, unlike everything else I have to do with my dad."

Haley rolled her eyes, typical teenage boy who thinks it uncool to hang out with his father.

But of course, Jared just laughed at Nathan like everyone else who he had said that to would have. How could you not? He was Nathan Scott. Charming, revered, talented, cocky and as much as Haley hated to admit it – ridiculously gorgeous. If he was giving you the time of day, you don't waste it.

"I guess the car ride with him there will be the only downside then eh?"

"Oh nah. Dad's already in Charlotte today, he has a few meetings there thank god. I'm driving down myself after school tomorrow."

_Oh my god._

Haley dropped her heavy math book on the floor. Nathan's eyes immediately looked over to her. He'd known she was there the whole time he was talking to Jared, which made it very hard to concentrate on the conversation.

Haley saw Nathan looking at her with an unreadable expression. Not angry or distant, but more shocked. Unmoveable. _Well I guess he's not going to try and pick it up for me, he is a Scott after all._

However to Haley's surprise, just as she was about to lean down to pick the book up for herself, Nathan's hand flew down and now the book was in front of her face.

"Thanks" she smiled at him.

Nathan's heart started beating at a rapid pace as he got more and more nervous.

"No problem" he managed to get out, trying to appear cool about it adding in his trademark smirk.

_Eurgh, he's giving me the smirk. So what he does one tiny nice thing and he expects me to grovel at his feet? I don't think so. Although, I do need that lift to Charlotte.._

"Um Nathan, sorry but did I just hear you are driving to Charlotte tomorrow?" Haley asked, trying not to be too obvious.

"Yeah I am, how come?" Nathan just loved that she was still talking to him. Might as well prolong it for as long as possible.

"Oh well, I know this is going to sound totally strange and everything because we don't know each other but do you think I might be able to get a ride with you?" Haley asked as sweetly as she possibly could.

Nathan felt like all his Christmases had just come at once. _**She want's to get a lift with me! Wait, that's like a whole hour and a half alone in the car with Haley James! Oh my god, uh oh say something you idiot before she changes her mind.**_

"It's really okay if you can't" Haley added.

"NO! Err, sorry no. It's fine, I can drive you."

"Really? Oh my god Nathan, thankyou so much! I really wouldn't ask if I wasn't desperate."

Nathan was now trying desperately to keep cool.

"Oh really it's no problem. So uh, I guess we'll just leave straight after school tomorrow then yeah? Meet you out at the parking lot?"

In that moment Haley completely forgot every negative thought she had about Nathan Scott and jumped into his arms, wrapping hers around his neck.

"Thankyou so much Nathan! You're really a lifesaver!" Haley then gave him a quick kiss on the cheek and ran off in the other direction excitedly.

Nathan put his hand on his cheek.

_**Okay so, Best. Day. Ever.**_


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four**

**Thanks again to everyone who reviewed! You guys are awesome and totally make me smile :)**

**I hope you like this chapter, we now see some real Naley interaction. So please review!**

**Once again Haley's thoughts are in non-bold italics and Nathan's in bold italics.**

Nathan had to stop himself from sprinting to the parking lot the second the last bell sounded. Instead, he quickly made his way to his locker and got his things. He then attempted to look as normal as always and began to walk out of the school with his usual cocky, attention demanding strut. Nathan was not at all expecting Haley to be waiting for him as he thought he had left so quickly. However, there she was standing beside his car, beautiful and punctual as always. She had a shoulder bag that looked way too full to have stuff that was meant for just one night in it. He smiled.

_**She's such a girl.**_

Haley heard him walking up and turned to give him a smile.

"Hey Nathan" she said, still smiling.

"Hey Haley" he returned in the same manner.

"Thankyou so much for this again."

"It's no problem. Here, pass me your bag and I'll put it in the boot."

"Thanks."

The first few minutes of the car ride were spent in awkward silence. Both of them were trying to figure out what to say to the other one.

_So, he likes basketball yeah? Just talk to him about that. Yeah, that's good. Not that I have any idea where to start with that.._

_**Cheerleading. Ask her how that's going. But wait, that probably sounds like I'm stereotyping her and I've only noticed her from that, right? Tutoring, I could ask her about that. Then again, she'll probably wonder how I even know she tutors and then realise I'm a stalker and I'm not so sure I'm cool with her knowing that just yet...**_

_Using the Lucas card is totally out of the question. That could lead us down a really awkward road. Oh Haley you suck at this just talk to him straight up like you would if he wasn't doing you a favor. _

_**Music! There we go, something we both like...**_

"So what radio station...How come you decided.." they both began.

Nathan looked over to her and laughed.

"Sorry, you go first."

"Oh, no it's fine. What were you saying about the radio?" Haley replied, extra politely.

"Oh, just wondering what station you want it on or if maybe you want to put a CD on."

"Hmm well, what kind of music do you like?"

"Mostly rap, bit of metal and stuff thrown in." Nathan replied with ease. She may have been Haley but it didn't mean his cocky confidence was completely gone because she was in the car.

"Of course it is, typical teenage boy crap." Haley laughed. "Well, that's so not going on."

"Ohh, just like that you've decided?" Nathan mocked that he was hurt by her words.

"Yeah, pretty much." She gave him a sarcastic smile back.

Nathan laughed. He loved her bluntness.

"Okay so let's see what you've got," Haley started going through Nathan's CD's, "you really weren't joking about the whole rap thing were you? Kanye West, Eminem, Tupac, Kanye West again, Metallica? Really?"

"Like you can talk, Miss I'm-going-to-a-Sheryl-Crowe-concert-tonight."

"Excuse me, she's awesome. Just because she doesn't sing about sluts and abusive relationships.."

" Ohhh! I'll have you know that rap goes a lot deeper than that."

"Mmhmm, yeah sure. Well, we're still not listening to it anyway!"

Haley then promptly turned the radio to her favourite station.

"Yeah I'm already starting to regret saying yes to this." Nathan said.

Haley laughed.

"So, why did you say yes?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well like, you're Nathan Scott. Star player of the basketball team, most popular guy at school, a really cocky, massive jerk.."

"Hey! Remember whose car this is!"

"Basically, everyone knows you don't do anything unless there is something in it for you," Haley continued, ignoring Nathan's comment. "so why did you say yes? I totally wasn't expecting you to when I asked."

Nathan frowned. _**Okay, ouch.**_

"Well maybe you shouldn't believe everything you hear Ms James."

"But this isn't just what I've heard, I've seen it too."

Nathan frowned again. _**I'm never a jerk when Haley's around; I'm always too nervous and trying to impress her. What the hell does she mean?**_

"When?" Nathan questioned, suddenly very curious.

"You remember Scarlett Johnson's party a few months ago? I saw you, all over every girl at that party but you never once offered to get any of them a drink. And at Spencer Mane's, I heard you talking to that girl Alicia from my algebra class and I couldn't believe how rude and disrespectful you were towards her!"

_**Crap, I didn't know she was at either of those parties! Well done, Nathan.**_

"But mostly I have gotten this impression of you from the countless number of girls on the squad who have come to practise crying their eyes out because they slept with Nathan Scott and he couldn't even remember their name the next day. Or he would just walk by them in the hallway at school and not even notice they were there. You know Missy Freeman? You couldn't even remember that you slept with her and at the next party you tried it on with her again!"

_**Okay, this probably isn't a great start to our relationship..**_

"Ohh, I always wondered why she sprinted away crying from me that night." Nathan said.

Haley shot him a look.

"Sorry."

"Sorry? Seriously? Oh yeah, that makes everything better Nathan. Besides, I'm not the one you should be apologising to. You've never done anything to me."

"Then why are you so mad at me?"

"Because, you might have never done anything to me but you've hurt lots of my friends and lots of good people in our school who didn't deserve it. And anyway, I don't like people who think they can just do whatever they want and don't care what or who gets damaged along the way. It's not who I am."

Nathan nodded. _**Yeah, I knew that.**_

"Well, for what it's worth, I don't mean to hurt anyone. It kind of just happens that way, but I know that's not an excuse."

Haley looked over at Nathan and could see he was being sincere.

She softened her demeanour.

"Yeah well, I mean it's partly their fault too. The girls should know by now not to get involved with you. Yet for some unknown reason, they still do anyway."

Nathan smirked.

"I'm pretty sure you know the reason, Haley."

He flexed his arm to show off his biceps.

"Ohh, and you wonder why I think you're cocky!"

"Just admit it Haley, you think I'm sexy." He said playfully, naively hoping she would.

"No, I think _Chase_ is sexy." She replied in a matter-of-fact tone with a smile on her face.

With that, Nathan's mood suddenly changed.

"Right, the boyfriend. So, he was okay with you riding up to Charlotte with me?"

Haley stiffened. _Shit, I forgot to tell Chase how I was getting there._

"Yeah, he was fine with it. Why wouldn't he be?"

Nathan raised his eyebrow. "Well apparently I have a bit of a reputation with girls or something." He said sarcastically with a grin on his face.

Haley laughed. "Oh, shut up! Chase trusts me, and I thought you would've figured out by now I'm not the kind of person that would cheat."

_**Trust me, I figured that out a long time ago.**_

"Besides if I was going to cheat on Chase, as if it would be with you!"

"Oh please, Haley. You wish it could be with me!" Nathan laughed.

"More like the other way around isn't it Scott? I believe Brooke and I are the only two cheerleaders who haven't visited your bed." _Not that Brooke wouldn't be more than willing given the opportunity..._

"Ever thought that maybe that was because you aren't hot enough for me?"

Haley raised her eyebrows at him. "And is that the reason?"

Nathan smiled. "Well obviously not."

Haley laughed.

"But still, you could've thought about that! It appears I'm not the only one who's cocky in this car."

Haley scoffed and then changed the subject. "Well you never answered my question!"

"And what question might that be?" Nathan said, still smiling and admiring her ability to avoid his question.

"Why did you agree to drive me?"

Nathan paused. _**Uhh, 'cause I love you.**_

"Well you know, I thought I might be able to add another cheerleader to my list but something tells me that's not going to happen." He replied in typical Nathan Scott fashion.

Haley laughed. "You got that right."

Nathan smiled as he looked over at her. "Maybe one day I'll be wrong."

She looked straight back at him and with a playful smile said "Maybe,"

Nathan's heart skipped a beat.

"but I wouldn't hold your breath".

**Please review! :)**


	5. Chapter 5

**Please review! **

**Chapter Five**

**Thankyou to all my beautiful reviewers. **

**Nathan's thoughts – bold italics.**

**Haley's – non-bold italics.**

The car ride had been spent in a comfortable silence for the past five minutes. Neither Nathan or Haley were trying to come up with things to say to each other anymore, things to say were now just coming more freely at any random times. Nathan remained with a smile on his face and his eyes on the long road in front of him. They had about an hour to go. Haley was looking out the passenger seat window, watching all the cars rush past when an idea struck her.

"Wanna play car cricket?" she said with a smile of a four year old on her face.

"What the hell is car cricket?" Nathan laughed.

"As if you've never played before! What kind of childhood did you have?" she said incredulously.

"Well, apparently not a very good one!" He laughed.

"Well basically all you do is count the cars that drive past and when a red car drives past you're out" she explained.

"Okay, so you wanna get a higher number than the other person?" Nathan asked.

"Yeah! Okay I'll go first." Haley said, then proceeded to count the cars that drove past.

"One. . Four Five Six Seven!"

"Hey that one is red, you're out!"

"Dammit, fine. You're turn."

They continued playing for fifteen minutes.

"This is so unfair, it's like red cars don't even exist when it's your turn but when it's mine they all come out of hiding at once!" Haley said.

Nathan laughed, "Yeah, well I'm making up for lost wins seeing as I never played as a child. And I believe that was five wins in a row so it's time for me to finally change the radio station."

Nathan flicked the radio over to his favourite station.

"Eurgh, I'm going to have to come up with a new game. This is torture!" Haley said, making a face.

"Give it some time! Are you telling me you never have these arguments with Chase in the car?" Nathan asked.

"No, Chase lets me listen to whatever I want."

"Even in his car?"

"Yep. You know, he's a gentleman." Haley said, trying to make Nathan change it back.

"Ahh, that's overrated." Nathan ignored her obvious plea.

"How would you even know it's overrated? It's not like you've ever acted like a gentleman before!" Haley giggled.

"Ohh, ouch. Low blow, Haley." Nathan laughed back.

"So, you're going to Charlotte for a basketball game right?" Haley asked, changing the subject.

"Yeah, keeping tabs on me?" He said with a smirk.

"Don't flatter yourself! I overheard you and Jared yesterday."

"Ahh, well yeah I am. Although I'm going with my dad so that's kind of brought the excitement down." Nathan said, his smile fading.

Haley looked over at him stiffen slightly. Maybe there was more to the story than she thought.

"Oh, why is that a bad thing?" She asked, trying not to pry too much.

Nathan laughed, "If you ever meet my dad, you'll know why" he said. "To say he's overbearing would be an understatement."

"Ahh. Luke did say that as it turns out he might have got the better end of the deal when it comes to your dad, strangely enough." Haley replied. "I didn't really believe him though. I mean, sure he's certainly not the greatest father in the world, but at least Dan was always there for you. Lucas has had to deal with the feeling of not being wanted by his own dad his whole life. Feeling like he wasn't good enough when that isn't even supposed to matter in a parent-child relationship. In those instances, love should be unconditional. At least you know what it's like to be loved by your father regardless of who you are. "

Nathan looked over at Haley, softening his expression. "Yeah, I know and I am sorry for Lucas for that, but you don't know my dad Haley. His 'love' for me, if you even want to call it that, is certainly not unconditional. I would've much rather had Uncle Keith as my father figure than having Dan around as my actual father growing up. I really wouldn't have minded switching places with Lucas."

Haley looked out the window for a moment of thought before saying, "Yeah, I guess I have never really thought about it from your side before, I guess it's just 'cause on the surface it seems like Luke got it so much harder than you. Sorry Nathan."

Nathan's smirk returned. "It's no problem, Haley."

The car fell silent as a touch of awkwardness returned.

"So, how many girls do you reckon you've slept with?" Haley asked abruptly.

Nathan's eyes widened in surprise as he looked over at her.

"What? Conversation spin-around much?" he said laughing. "Where the hell did that come from?"

Haley smiled as she thought for a moment. "I don't know", she said as she shrugged her shoulders. "It was getting awkward and it was the first thing that came to my mind to ask."

"_That _was the first thing you thought of? Ever tried, I don't know, so what classes are you taking this year Nathan?" he said smartly.

Haley laughed. _Well now I just look like a freak._

"Okay, so what classes are you taking this year Nathan?" she asked, returning his smirk with her own.

"Well, seeing as you asked," he winked. "I'm taking English, Calculus, Business, Media and Legal." The only reason Nathan had chosen Media was because he knew Haley was doing it. He had an open space for a subject and seeing as he planned on becoming a professional basketball player anyway he thought, 'why not make one class a little more interesting?'

"Hmm, yeah. I think you might be in my Media class." Haley said. Nathan smirked at the thought of her noticing him, but frowned when he realised that she obviously hadn't paid much attention.

"So, how many girls do you reckon? Seriously, don't dodge the question. I thought Nathan Scott was proud of his achievements." She smiled as she pushed him to answer her question. Haley was never one to back down.

Nathan laughed but inside he was squirming a bit. "I don't really know, I haven't really thought about it."

"How could you not have thought about it? I'm not sure if you've heard, but there's this thing called herpes and I hear it's not that pleasant..."

Nathan laughed. "Well I try to steer clear of the infected ones."

"But how would you know beforehand?" Haley asked, testing him. She was so planning on winning this little play-fight.

Nathan thought for a moment, and then conceded. "I guess I don't know." He laughed, shaking his head.

"Hmm, you should really get checked out." Haley added in sarcastically.

"Well, what about you?" Nathan decided to turn the tables.

"What?"

"Oh, don't give me that. You can't expect to ask me that and then me not turn it back to you, do you?" Nathan smirked. He had her now.

Haley scrunched up her nose trying to think of a way to get out of answering but nothing came to her. "Well, I'm pretty sure the answer is obvious." She simply stated.

"Obvious? How the hell is it obvious?" Nathan asked, genuinely confused.

"I've been going out with the same guy for two years. What do you think?" She really regretted starting this conversation now.

"Doesn't necessarily mean the answer's obvious." Nathan said, relieved that Haley hadn't been around much but hearing the conformation that she had been around to Chase still made him feel sick.

"Yeah well, for me it is. I'm not that kind of person." Haley said confidently. That was the truth and she wasn't embarrassed about it.

"Yeah, I guess you're not." Nathan smiled. _**I know you're not.**_

"So how about the radio game? You have to know that one right?" Haley asked, wanting to get away from that topic. "Besides it will give me an excuse to stop listening to this rubbish."

Nathan laughed, "Well of course I know the radio game, I mean, what kind of childhood did a person have if they don't know the radio game?" Nathan said, mocking her earlier words.

She stuck her tongue out at him before turning the volume down and proceeding to ask a question as she fiddled with the stations.

"Okay, will the Sheryl Crowe concert tonight be totally awesome?"

Nathan rolled his eyes. _California Girls _by Katy Perry came on the radio.

"Okay so that makes no sense." Nathan laughed, "Okay almighty radio, give me a song that describes Haley perfectly." He teasingly smiled, looking over at her. She rolled her eyes and smiled back but was slightly worried about what song was going to come on. Then she heard the familiar tune of one of her all time favourite songs. "Oh! It so knows me!" she said excitedly. "Okay well, not really because the song totally doesn't relate but I love this song so it's staying on." Nathan groaned but politely didn't change the station and figured he'd wait till her song was over and might as well listen to the lyrics.

_My girlfriend's got a boyfriend, funny  
he doesn't make a dime all day  
and all her girlfriends' boyfriends make money  
what more can i say?  
It's true,  
he never made it through a day of school  
the only thing he studied was you  
he knows your body better than you do_

Maybe I'm your Mr. Right  
baby, maybe I'm the one you like  
maybe I'm a shot in the dark  
and you're the morning light  
whoa  
maybe this is sad but true  
baby, maybe you've got nothing to lose  
you could be the best of me  
when I'm the worst for you

Nathan smiled as he listened to the words. _**Maybe I should've asked what song would describe me perfectly, 'cause this one's pretty much got it in the bag.**__  
_He continued to listen, liking the lyrics but he still thought the music was shit.

_My girlfriend's got a boyfriend, running  
to catch the bus to meet,  
to meet up with the boyfriend's girlfriend  
who's stunning  
She's such a sight to see  
It's true,  
the moment he laid eyes on you he knew, the only wish he wanted came true  
he knows he's lucky that he met someone like you_

That last line made him feel slightly bad for Chase. Only slightly because, well, he was going out with Haley so it wasn't like he was going to cry for him or anything but it made Nathan feel kind of wrong for trying to steal his girlfriend. As much as Nathan hated to admit it, Chase was an okay guy. Nice enough, never got into fights and would pull his weight on the team. Boring as hell though. Definitely not someone Nathan wanted to spend a lot of time with, which only made his thoughts go back into a loop as he used this as a justification as to why Haley would be better off with him rather than Chase.__

Maybe I'm your Mr. Right  
baby, maybe I'm the one you like  
maybe I'm a shot in the dark  
and you're the morning light  
whoa  
maybe this is sad but true  
baby, maybe you've got nothing to lose  
you could be the best of me  
when I'm the worst for you

you can always change your mind  
and you  
can't change mine

maybe I'm your Mr. Right  
baby  
maybe I'm the one you like  
maybe I'm a shot in the dark and you're the morning light  
woah  
maybe this is sad but true  
baby  
maybe you've got nothing to lose  
or you could be the best of me  
when I'm the worst for you

I'm the worst for you.

Nathan looked over at Haley as she mimed the last part of the song to herself. Clearly she doesn't realise just how much this song does relate to her. And Nathan really wished she did know.

Instead of continuing on with the radio game or putting his CD back on, Nathan just let the station keep playing. The rest of the car trip was just spent in comfortable silence as the radio played, both Nathan and Haley just happy to be in the car with each other.

Eventually, after about twenty minutes, they arrived in Charlotte.

"Thanks again for the ride Nathan, I don't know what I would have done without you." Haley said as they pulled up the curb.

"No problem, you got a ride home?" Nathan asked, hoping she'd say no.

"Oh yeah, Aimee's taking me back tomorrow." Haley replied as her phone rang.

She looked down at the screen as Nathan began to park. _Caller ID: Chase. Oh shit, I'd completely forgotten about him!_

"Hey!" Haley said cheerfully as she answered the phone.

"Hey babe" she heard Chase say on the other end. "Did you end up getting to Charlotte okay?"

"Oh, yeah. I just got here actually." Haley said. _Please don't ask how._

"Really? That's awesome Hales. How'd you get there in the end?"

_Dammit._

Haley got out of the car before she answered

"Um, I actually got a lift from Nathan." She said quietly.

"Nathan? Who's Nathan?" Chase asked, obviously confused.

Haley laughed. _I'm sure Nathan wouldn't appreciate hearing that someone didn't know who he was straight away._

"You know, Nathan Scott."

The other end was silent for a moment. "Scott? How the hell did that happen?" Chase asked, even more confused than before now.

"It's kind of a long story but basically I heard him talking to his friend yesterday about how he was coming here for a basketball game so I asked him for a ride." Haley explained.

"Oh, okay. And he just said yes?"

"Yeah."

"Woah, how unusual for Nathan Scott.

Haley laughed. "Yeah that's what I thought."

"How was the trip? Hope he wasn't too bad for you." Chase said knowingly.

Nathan got out of the car and popped the boot.

"Oh nah, it was fine. You know, what you'd expect really." Haley said, trying to answer curtly so Nathan wouldn't realised she was talking about him. Haley then saw Aimee in the distance, walking towards her and she smiled. "Sorry Chase, Aimee's here I have to go. Have fun with you family tonight."

"Okay, thanks babe. Have fun at your concert." Haley then hung up the phone before turning to Nathan.

"Okay so that's Aimee." She said, nodding her head towards her approaching cousin. "Thanks so much for the ride."

"No problem, maybe one day I can take you for a real one." He winked at her suggestively.

She laughed back at him. "I guess I'll see you around."

"I _promise _you will." He said back with an honest smile on his face.

She turned and walked up to Aimee, embracing her in a hug. "Hey! Long time no see!"

"Hey! Yeah, I know. I've missed you so much!" Aimee said back. "So are you excited?"

"Oh yeah!" Haley replied.

Little did Aimee know that Haley was suddenly excited for something other than the concert.

And that something had blue eyes, black hair and gave her a feeling in the pit of her stomach that she couldn't quite put her finger on. But she did know that she had never felt it before.

**Please Review :)**

**And in case anybody is wondering, the song I used is called 'Mr. Right' by 'A Rocket to the Moon'.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six**

**Thankyou to those who reviewed, I really appreciate it!**

**A special thanks to **_**KTxx**_** and **_**wolfgiiirl1234**___**for being loyal reviewers. You both are awesome and this chapter is dedicated to you!**

**By the way, I just wanted to let all of you know that I'm Australian so some words are spelt differently to the American way. Words like favourite, colour, mum etc.**

**Just a heads up because I feel so wrong when I write words down the American way so I just left it haha :)**

School on Monday started the same way it always did. Kids tiredly dragging their feet across the quad and into school, girls gossiping about what happened on the weekend and guys high-fiving those of their friends they had not seen since the previous Friday. Usually, Nathan was one of those guys. But not today. Today his thoughts were too preoccupied. Today, in his mind, was the day it all changed. He and Haley were friends now – so he liked to think – which to him meant that they would be talking more and would start acknowledging each other in the hallways. Maybe they would even crack jokes at cheer/basketball practise.

Usually, Nathan was one of those kids dragging his feet across the quad due to a lack of sleep and the horrible feeling of knowing a whole new week of school was ahead. But this morning, Nathan was full of energy and couldn't wait to step foot into school. Not that his exterior showed his excitement. Nor would he ever let it.

As Nathan sauntered across the school grounds, heads turned towards him and a few people gave him the 'sup' head-nod just like they always did. Part of him was annoyed that everything was so regular. Today was un-regular, although he hoped that soon enough these days would become regular. A new kind of regular.

As he entered the school, Nathan noticed that everything was stupidly the same. Although, as he looked around the corridor he realised he was wrong. It wasn't stupid at all because everything _was_ the same.

Haley was standing by her locker laughing with Brooke and Peyton while Chase stood behind her, his arm draped across her shoulder. She hadn't even noticed that he'd walked in.

Nathan felt his heart drop and suddenly felt the need to know that today _was _different. So he confidently strolled down the hallway, saying hello to everyone that passed him by (or at least, everyone who he deemed worthy of a hello) in order to gain enough attention for her to notice him and maybe say 'Hey' or even just give him a smile. But she didn't even look up. Haley just continued talking and laughing and being smothered by Chase. A huge wave of disappointment flooded over Nathan as he dejectedly walked towards his locker.

_Everything _about today was regular.

"So, Tutor Girl how was your weekend?" Brooke said as they walked into the gym for cheer practise. "You ended up getting to your concert right?"

"Yeah, I did" Haley replied. "It was so awesome." _Please don't ask how I got there._

"Oh, good!" Brooke said. "And Aimee? She good?"

Haley looked over at Brooke and gave her a questioning look. Brooke never liked Aimee. Once, when Brooke slept over at Haley's house for the weekend in eighth grade, Aimee and her family had come over for dinner. Afterwards, the three girls had gone upstairs and had decided that it would be fun to give each other makeovers. Aimee gave Haley one, Haley gave Brooke one and Brooke gave Aimee one. Big mistake. Brooke wouldn't let Aimee look into the mirror until she was done because she wanted her to be amazed by the final picture. However, when Aimee looked at herself in the mirror after Brooke was finished working on her, she simply turned Brooke's way and said "I don't like it." Then, Aimee promptly tied up her hair and wiped all the make up Brooke had just spent half an hour putting on her face off. Needless to say, Brooke had been pissed. Aimee was sweet but blunt. Haley was used to it, she was quite blunt herself but nothing like Aimee was. For the rest of that night Haley was stuck awkwardly between the two girls and Brooke has never liked Aimee since.

Haley rolled her eyes then laughed. "She's fine, thanks for asking."

Brooke caught Haley's eye roll and gave a mischievous smile in return.

As the pair walked up to the rest of the squad a thought entered Brooke's mind.

"Oh, Hales!" she practically yelled in excitement. "Seeing as you haven't been here this weekend, you wouldn't have heard!"

"Heard what, Brooke?" Haley asked with intrigue. Brooke glanced over at Peyton and smirked.

"You wanna tell her or should I?" Brooke asked Peyton, unable to take the grin off her face. Peyton gave Brooke her infamous eye roll but Haley noticed that a small smile was playing on her lips.

Brooke hardly gave Peyton the option of telling Haley herself as within a second Brooke said, "Peyton and Luke fiiiiiiinally hooked up on Friday night!"

"What? Are you serious?" Haley's eyes bugged out. "No way! Peyton, that's great."

Peyton couldn't help but smile. "How did that even happen? Didn't you go with Julian?" Haley questioned.

"Yeah but only as friends. I don't really know, it just happened." Peyton said coyly, never one to give a way too much information.

"Oh, of course you know!" Brooke interrupted, then turned to Haley. "Basically, when Luke saw that she had came with Julian, he got sooo jealous. Like, it was ridiculous. Got all moody and did that broody, squinty eyed thing he does, you know?" Brooke said, looking for conformation.

Haley laughed and then nodded in response. Oh God, did she know that look alright.

"Well anyway," Brooke continued, "he then spent the _whole _night just standing and talking with Julian and Peyton as if to make sure nothing was going to happen between them. Then eventually, I think Julian just got the message and ditched. Before you know it, they were making out under some old tree in the backyard." Peyton blushed.

"Naw!" Haley said.

"Seriously Peyton, you should like carve yours and Lucas' initials on that tree to you know, mark the spot." Peyton, always the individual, responded by saying, "Oh please. How cliché is that?"

"Whatever." Brooke said, poking her tongue out at Peyton.

Haley looked over to the boys on the basketball court who were also training, searching for Luke. She wanted to tell him off for not telling her sooner! As she gazed across the group of boys, her eyes met with Nathan's. She gave him a small smile when she noticed he was looking at her. He smirked back and gave her a soft nod. Haley had long forgotten about Lucas at this point, she'd deal with him later. Haley's smiled broadened, leading into a silent laugh in response before Brooke pulled her out of the moment.

"Um, excuse me, what was that?" Brooke incredulously asked Haley.

"What was what?" Haley asked, trying to act innocently but knowing it wouldn't fool Brooke. The girl picked up on _everything. _

"Oh please! You know what - Nathan just gave you the nod!"

"What nod?" Haley said, smiling.

"The let's-hook-up-after-practise nod." Brooke said. "Or the I'm-acknowledging-the-good-hook-up-we-have-previously-had-and-would-like-to-have-again nod".

Haley laughed, "You're crazy. Do you not remember that I have a boyfriend? And when have you ever seen me talking, letting alone doing _anything _else, with Nathan Scott?"

"I don't know, never I guess. That's why it's weird! And as for Chase, of course _I _remember but after that little display I'm wondering whether or not you do!"

"Ohh! Come off it!" Haley laughed, "No, there was no hook up nor was there an implied hook up. Nathan was just the one who gave me a lift to Charlotte on Friday."

Now upon hearing this, the entire squad was intrigued. "What?" Brooke asked with a high pitched screech. "Nathan _Scott _gave you a lift to Charlotte on Friday?"

"Yeah, I overheard him saying he was going so I asked him for a ride. It was no big deal." Haley said, trying to brush it off.

"No big deal?" Brooke was looking at Haley liked she was crazy. "Haley, when have you ever heard of Nathan Scott ever doing anything like that for _anyone?_"

Now that Haley though about it, she hadn't. Nathan was all about himself all the time and if he didn't get anything out of doing something, then he wouldn't do it. He considered things like that a burden and a waste of his 'precious' time.

"Well, I don't know, he was already going to Charlotte so it's not like he went out of his way or anything." Haley really wanted this topic to blow over very soon.

"Yeah or maybe it's got something to do with the fact that he's _always _staring at you." Amanda, one of the cheerleaders said.

"What are you talking about? Nathan doesn't stare at me." Haley replied, her smile turning to a frown.

The entire squad began to laugh. "Are you kidding Haley? How could you not have noticed?" Cassie said. "All that boy does is play basketball and stare at you. Sometimes he does both at the same time."

Haley looked over to the basketball court and watched as Nathan slam-dunked a ball into the hoop. And sure enough, as his feet touched back down to the ground, his eyes met hers and he gave her a satisfied wink with knowing that she was watching.

"See?" Brooke said, raising her eyebrows at Haley.

"Oh, whatever. You guys read way too much into everything. I don't even know him." Haley then abandoned the topic and the others followed suit. Well, except for Brooke. "I'm not letting this go so you know." She sing-songed into Haley's ear.

"Okay but just so you know, it's pointless as there is nothing to let go of in the first place." Haley replied and the girls then jumped up to start practising their routine. Halfway through the dance, Haley looked over to the basketballers who were heading into the locker room. She caught Nathan's eye and gave him a smirk. Noticing that Haley was imitating his signature smirk, he gave her a big smile in return before disappearing into the change rooms.

Haley then tried to focus her attention back on the routine.

_Maybe there is something for Brooke to let go of._

**Please Review :)**


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter Seven**

**Thanks again to everybody to reviewed and also to those who have favourite-d, you guys are truly amazing and I'm really glad you like the story so please continue with your feedback :)**

"Eugh, I have _nothing _to wear!" Brooke screeched, barging into Haley's room without even so much as a hello. Haley rolled over in her bed covers, refusing to open her eyes. "Nooo."

Brooke did this a lot. Coming over early on the weekend because she had some crisis or another because she could never be bothered waiting for Haley to get up before unloading her problems onto her. Brooke is definitely someone who can be described as an early riser, which really shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone as she is always so full of energy.

"What are you doing here?" Haley moaned into her pillow.

"I don't have anything to wear to the Tric opening tonight!" Brooke said, as if it was the worst thing that had ever happened in history, while she began to rummage through Haley's extensive wardrobe. Even though Brooke had always been the one who was really into fashion, Haley had a very impressive collection of clothes, shoes and accessories. She was somebody who would keep clothes for years, way after they had gone out of fashion. Whereas Brooke would throw her clothes away the second they were not considered fashionable anymore. She came to regret this habit of hers though, after she had realised how cool Haley's collection was. Even though there were lots of things that Brooke would never even consider wearing in there, there were always bits and pieces which came back into fashion or things that Haley mended or changed into some really cool accessory. This meant that at every party or event, Haley always had the most interesting and original outfit. Of course this also meant Brooke did too as she would always raid Haley's wardrobe because they would always get ready together.

"You have so many dresses it should be illegal Brooke, how the hell could you have _nothing _to wear?" Haley said, mocking Brooke's tone.

Brooke just rolled her eyes and gave an exasperated sigh. "Just get out of bed and come and help me."

Haley groaned. _I should have picked Peyton as my best friend. So wouldn't be having this problem._

"Well, what are you thinking of wearing?" Haley asked as she climbed out of bed and sat on the floor next to her best friend.

"I'm not sure exactly. Like sexy but not slutty and I feel like wearing some bracelets." Brooke said as she played with Haley's bracelet stand. "I want to wear my hair down too." She added.

"Okay, well how about your red, silky strapless dress you bought last weekend?" Haley suggested, then picked up a pair of extremely high red pumps. "And then these on your feet and those shiny black bracelets for your wrists." Haley then looked up at Brooke, imagining the outfit on her.

"Should look amazing." Haley said then gave Brooke a smile.

Brooke's eyes lit up. "Ohh, Hoarder-Girl there is a reason why you are my best friend! That's perfect, thankyou!"

Brooke had affectionately dubbed Haley 'Hoarder-Girl' a few years back to due Haley's wardrobe collection. However, last year Stacie Merchant overheard Brooke using the nickname and misheard it as 'Whore-Girl'. Stacie, being the bitch that she is, then proceeded to tell the whole school that Brooke and Haley were in the middle of a massive fight because Haley had done something really slutty. Ever since, Brooke had been careful never to use the nickname in public.

Haley laughed. "It's no problem Brooke."

"So, Hales what are you wearing?" Brooke asked.

"Um, it's hanging on my dresser just there." Haley said as she pointed to her brown chest of drawers. Brooke walked over to where Haley had pointed and picked up the dress. It was a mid to pale blue, silk strapless dress that ended mid thigh. With it, Haley had decided to pair her ultra high, ultra cool sparkly silver heels she had acquired from her Mum's eighties days. She'd also added in a couple of sparkly silver bracelets she found at a kids accessories store a few months back, which she bought for $2. Haley felt like she had some sort of talent for finding weird things then making them cool. Brooke's jaw dropped. "Haaaaley. Can you like, please become my own personal stylist?"

Haley laughed. "I kind of already am, Brooke. Besides, what if I decided I wanted you to wear my poncho?"

Brooke shuddered. "On second thought I take that back."

Haley laughed.

"The outfit really is awesome though, Hales."

"Thanks Brooke."

"Chase won't know what hit him." Brooke smiled. "Okay well, I have got to go and get organised. I will be back at six to start getting ready with you."

"Okay, see you then Brooke." Haley smiled, hoping this might mean that she has a chance to get some more sleep.

"Oh, and Hales? I'm so looking forward to seeing the new hair." Brooke said then gave Haley a wink and skipped out of the room.

Haley had an appointment at the hairdressers for one thirty that afternoon to dye her hair. She was excited to change her hair colour, she hated keeping it the same for too long and even though it looked nice, she had had enough of the honey blonde colour it currently was.

Haley climbed back into her bed and pulled the covers over her. _Mmm, time for some more sleep._

Haley then heard her phone start to ring and she groaned. She leaned over to her bedside table and picked up the phone. Caller ID: Chase. She answered.

"Hey." She said, trying not to sound too tired.

"Hey beautiful," Chase replied. "I didn't wake you, did I?"

"No, no. It's fine, Brooke already did that."

"Oh," Chase laughed. "Good. Do you reckon I could come over soon then?"

_No! I want to sleep._

"Uhh, yeah sure. I have a hair appointment at one thirty though." Haley said, hoping he would just let it slide.

"Yeah, that's okay. I'll see you in about fifteen minutes." Chase said and then hung up the phone.

Haley groaned and then pulled the covers up over her head. She might as well get twenty more minutes of sleep before he showed up.

"Okay, I don't get it." Chase stated.

Haley laughed. They were currently sitting in Haley's living room watching _The Time Traveller's Wife _and it seemed the time jumping was confusing Chase.

"Me neither." Taylor added. She had joined them just before the movie started seeing as "she had nothing better to do until the club opening tonight".

"Of course _you_ don't Taylor," Haley rolled her eyes. "But maybe you should both be quiet and just keep watching?" She said smartly. Haley was up for talking most of the time but talking during a good movie was something that had always irritated her. She was one of those people who would say a loud 'Sshhhh' when she went to the movies if there were a pack of annoying teenagers who wouldn't shut up in the back.

"Sorry babe." Chase said.

Taylor didn't seem to care about what Haley had said though. "So Hales, what are you wearing to the opening tonight?"

"My blue dress and no you can't borrow anything." Haley said, knowing her sister too well.

"Whyyyy?" Taylor pouted.

"Because you never give anything back!" Haley retorted. "Or you somehow make a dress look so ridiculously slutty that I have to throw it out because there is no way I would ever be caught dead in it after I've seen that."

"Gee, thanks Hales. I don't even want to borrow a dress." Taylor defended. "Just some shoes."

"Still no." Haley smiled sarcastically back.

"Hmmph." Taylor relented with a huff, sinking back down into the couch with her arms crossed.

Haley looked over at the clock. 12:43pm. _Crap, I have to leave soon._

Haley watched the movie with her boyfriend and sister for another twenty minutes before deciding it was time to kick Chase out. "Sorry Chase, but I have to go get my hair done. See you tonight though, yeah?"

"Yeah, that's fine Hales. See you tonight, looking forward to seeing the new you." Chase replied, walking out the door.

"Well, isn't he sweet?" Taylor said sarcastically. "The perfect boyfriend."

"Go away, Taylor."

"Just saying." Taylor said, shrugging her shoulders.

Haley laughed. "Yeah, I guess he is anyway."

"You don't sound too convinced with that Haley-bop." Taylor said, trying to catch Haley's eye.

Haley paused for a moment. "Of course I'm convinced, I'm just tired." She then covered up. "I'm going to go get changed before I go." Haley then left the room.

Taylor just shook her head at her little sister. _Ahh, you might be fooling him but you ain't fooling me little one._

Nathan pulled up into the Tric parking lot and then stepped out of his car.

"Thanks for the ride man." Lucas said, getting out of the dark blue convertible.

"No problem." Nathan replied. "Looks like its already going off."

"Yeah," Lucas replied, looking in the direction of the club. "it's good for our Mum's."

"Yeah." Nathan smiled. It was nice for his mother to have something like this.

They both then proceeded to walk up the metal stairs which led into the club. Music was blaring from the speakers, the room was dark with many multi-coloured lights shining across it and it was packed with people. Both boys strutted in, claiming the attention of everyone who was around them. Looking around the room, Lucas spotted Peyton at the DJ desk. "Hey Nathan, I'm gonna go talk to Peyton, that cool?"

"Yeah, that's fine man." Nathan replied before surveying the room, looking for a hot girl to dance with. His eyes then landed on a brunette girl who was standing in a group. He couldn't see her face but from what he could tell she was hot. She had long, dark, wavy hair that reached the middle of her back and was wearing a silky blue dress. Nathan walked across the dance floor towards her. He didn't care that she was talking to other people, he was Nathan Scott and he wanted to dance with her. They'd understand. As he got close, Nathan didn't even take notice of the people the girl was standing with. He flung his arm around her shoulder and pulled her into his chest.

"I was just wondering if I could get a dance with the prettiest girl in the room?" He whispered into her ear.

Haley looked up at Nathan in surprise. _What the hell was he doing?_ She couldn't help but smile at what he'd said though. Nathan immediately let go of Haley and took a step back in shock.

"Woah, sorry. Didn't realised it was you." He spluttered out. _Shit, how embarrassing. She looks amazing though. Guess she's dyed her hair!_

"I, uhh, I like your hair." Nathan said, trying to recover.

"Thanks." Haley said awkwardly, a little disappointed that Nathan hadn't noticed it was her.

Chase coughed and Nathan looked across at him.

"Sorry man, I didn't realise."

Chase wasn't happy with Nathan's embrace with Haley but he let it go. He was scared of Nathan and he'd said he hadn't known it was Haley.

"Yeah, it's fine. Don't worry about it man." Chase said in response.

Nathan nodded and then excused himself.

Brooke then pulled Haley to one side. "Oh my god!" She screeched. "How hilarious yet awkward was that!"

Haley laughed. "Yeah, that was really weird."

"You're lucky. Nathan Scott thinks you're hot." Brooke said.

"He didn't even known it was me, Brooke."

"So? He still thinks you're hot. I'd kill for him to say that to me."

"Well, I'm sure he thinks it. I mean look at you, how can he not?" Haley responded, knowing that would go down well with her best friend.

Brooke smiled. "Yeah, true."

Haley laughed.

"Thanks for the shoes Tutor-Girl!" Brooke said before being dragged off onto the dance floor by some random guy.

Haley walked back over to Chase. "Sorry about that whole Nathan thing." She said.

"It's fine babe. Little weird though, hey?" Chase said.

"Haha, yeah it was." Haley smiled. "I'm just going to go to the bathroom, okay?"

"Okay."

As Haley walked out of the bathroom she heard a deep voice come from behind her.

"So, that was totally embarrassing, hey?"

Haley turned around and saw Nathan standing there with his signature smirk and laughed.

"Yeah, I would be kind of mortified if I were you." She replied.

"Nahh, I don't get mortified." He said. "Although, that was close. Did you see the look your boyfriend gave me?"

"Yeah well, you did hit on his girlfriend right in front of him." Haley mocked.

"I didn't know it was you! And I didn't even see him." Nathan defended.

"What? You didn't even look to see who was around before assaulting me?" Haley asked.

"Assaulting? Oh please." Nathan laughed. "And nah I didn't."

Haley laughed and rolled her eyes. "So you just walk up to girls you think are hot and grab them, not caring if they have a boyfriend around?"

"Pretty much. And did you just call yourself hot, James?" Nathan asked teasingly.

"You were the one who said so, not me!"

"No, I said prettiest. And at that stage I hadn't even seen your face." Nathan said, making her go red. "I just usually use it to butter a girl up. Seems your ego needs a bit of a tone down, Hales."

"Ohhh! My ego?" Haley asked. "Are you kidding me? Have you met yourself?"

Nathan laughed. "Hey, I can't help it if I'm good looking and good at sports Haley. It's not an ego, it's just the truth." He said with a wink.

"My point exactly." Haley replied, not being able to hide her smile.

Nathan looked around the room and spotted Chase having a heavy discussion with a few of the guys from the team.

"So what do you say, Paris? One dance before the boyfriend notices?" Nathan asked.

"Paris?" Haley questioned.

"Yeah, you know. Paris Hilton. You think you're just as hot as she does." Nathan teased.

"Oh, shut up!" Haley blushed, hitting Nathan's on the chest.

"So seriously how about it? Can I get a dance with the prettiest girl in the room?"

Haley looked up at Nathan and smiled. He seemed to have this way of making her feel like a princess with a few mere words.

Haley took Nathan's hand.

"Definitely."

**Please Review :) **

**xx**


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter Eight**

**Thanks again for the reviews/alerts/favourites :)**

"You did not."

"I did too!"

"Right, and I hooked up with Megan Fox."

"Lucas!" Peyton laughed. "I did go out with Pete from Fall Out Boy!"

"Whatever you say, Peyton." Lucas replied. Before Peyton could reply with some sarcastic comment, Lucas cut her off.

"Okay, time for a change of song I think." He said. Peyton rolled her eyes at him then looked down towards the CD changer.

"Yeah, how about this?" Peyton agreed, as she held up a 'The Cure' CD.

"Peyton, this is a club. More importantly this is my mum's club." Lucas said.

"So?"

"So, we want people to like this club. Tell you how people will like this club?" Lucas said, obviously teasing her.

"By hearing 'The Cure' played here?" She responded in the same tone, not backing down.

"No." He said bluntly. "By dancing – to dance music."

"To bad music." Peyton deadpanned, scrunching up her nose. Lucas smiled at her. She looked cute when she did that. She was also right – it was bad music. But that's what people like to dance to, so that's what they had to play.

"Peyton," Lucas said, pushing her hair behind her ear. "Trust me. Put a dance track on and just watch how people react."

"Fine." Peyton conceded. She knew he was right but she didn't want to back down so easily.

Peyton changed the song to an up-tempo number and immediately people started to cheer.

Lucas looked over at her with an 'I told you so' look on his face. Before he could tease her though, Peyton put her hand over his mouth. "Shut up."

Lucas laughed and then looked over to the dance floor, watching all the different people get into the music. He noticed Nathan dancing with some brunette and smirked to himself. _He'll never change, will he? _Lucas focused on the girl, trying to make out her face and see if he knew her. _Haley?_

Lucas let go of Peyton's waist and looked a little closer.

"What is it, Luke?" Peyton asked.

"It's..." Lucas said, still focusing on the girl's face. "It's Haley."

Lucas was definitely confused. "I'll be right back."

Just before he walked away, Peyton stopped him. "Oh, Lucas?"

"Yeah?"

"I _did _go out with Pete from Fall Out Boy."

Lucas laughed and gave her a wink, then turned and marched across the dance floor to where Nathan and Haley were dancing. _Never saw this one coming. _

"Nate." Lucas said, announcing himself to the two of them.

Nathan and Haley stopped moving but remained holding hands.

"Hey Luke." Nathan replied a little awkwardly.

Lucas nodded at him. "Haley."

"Lucas." Haley replied with a tight smile.

The three stood in an awkward silence for a few moments before Lucas decided to speak up.

"What are you guys doing?"

"Oh, you know. Just having a little fun." Nathan replied, regretfully untangling his and Haley's fingers. "I'm going to go get a drink." He then said, before quickly hurrying away. Lucas turned to Haley, giving her a questioning look.

"Okay, what, when and how?" Lucas asked, quite amused.

"Uhh," Haley said with a sheepish smile. "I don't know. He gave me a lift to Charlotte a couple of weeks ago and –"

"Wait, Nathan gave you a lift to Charlotte?" Lucas asked, even more confused than before.

"Yeah."

"Nathan? Nathan Scott?"

"Yeah" Haley said, beginning to get frustrated.

"Nathan _Scott_ gave _you_ a lift to Charlotte?" Lucas asked again.

"Yes! Oh my god." Haley said annoyed. "Why does everyone keep saying it like that?"

"Because it's weird!" Lucas defended, still puzzled.

"It's not like he's the devil or something." Haley said. "I needed a lift, I overheard him saying he was going to Charlotte so I asked and well, you know the rest."

Lucas just stared at Haley with bewilderment. "Well, that's a first."

"Lucas! He's not that bad!" Haley said. "He's actually kinda nice."

"I know, Hales." Lucas said in response. "Remember a couple of months ago, it was me trying to convince you of that!"

"Yeah I know." Haley said, remembering all the long conversations she'd had with Lucas about Nathan and being careful of him after Lucas had joined the team.

"So, what made you change your mind?" Lucas asked, genuinely intrigued.

"Well, we talked in the car and I don't know," Haley said. "I just saw a different side to him I guess."

"A different side?" Lucas asked. "What side had you seen in the first place?"

Haley laughed. "Okay, well I guess I just saw _a _side to him then. But it was a good one. Different to what I expected."

Lucas nodded. "Right. So you guys are what, like friends now?"

"Yeah kinda." Haley said, unsure. "We've just had a few conversations."

"And that's what this was? A conversation?" Lucas teased.

Haley hit him. "Shut up! No, it was just a dance."

"That's all it was?" Lucas asked more seriously now.

"Yes, that's all it was. Very innocent, I promise." Haley reassured. "Besides, aren't you forgetting?"

Lucas looked at her confused.

"I'm Haley James and I have a boyfriend."

"Ahh." Lucas said with a smile.

"You might of heard of him, his name is Chase and he plays on the same basketball team as you." Haley teased.

"Oh yeah, I think I've seen him around." Lucas replied, playing along.

"Then you should also know that Haley James would _never _cheat on her boyfriend." She continued. "Especially not with _Nathan Scott_." Haley said, mocking Lucas' earlier tone.

Lucas smiled. "Yeah, I know."

"Good." Haley smiled back. "Now that's settled, I can do this."

Haley gave Lucas a hard smack on the shoulder.

"Ouch! What did you do that for?" Lucas said rubbing his shoulder.

"That was for not telling me about you and Peyton!" Haley exclaimed. "I mean, who was the one you talked endlessly with about how pretty she was? Who was the one who listened to you drone on and on _every _year when we made our predictions about how she was finally going to notice you? Who was the one who got her to sign your freshman yearbook for you?"

"Not something to be proud of Hales, she only signed her name." Lucas cut in. He'd been quite pissed about that at the time.

Haley ignored him. "And I have to find out that you two finally got together through _Brooke_? What kind of friend _are_ you?"

Lucas laughed. "Apparently, a pretty bad one. Sorry Hales, I did want to tell you, I was kind of just blown away with it all myself."

"Yeah." Haley said. "Well to make it up to me, you can buy me a drink."

Haley grabbed Lucas's hand and began to drag him along. "Come on."

"Yeah okay. Sounds fair." Lucas agreed as they headed towards the bar. "Oh and Hales?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm glad you and Nathan are getting along but please just, be careful." Lucas said seriously.

Haley connected her eyes with his. "You have _nothing _to worry about."

Haley then scanned the room as Lucas ordered their drinks. She caught Chase's eye and he motioned for her to come and join him. She smiled back and mouthed "one second" while pointing her index finger towards Lucas. Chase nodded and then turned back to his circle of friends. As Haley continued to look around the room, she noticed a pair of eyes on her. A pair of blue eyes that were strikingly similar to his brothers. Haley raised her eyebrow at Nathan, jokingly questioning what he was staring at. Nathan just shrugged in response and gave her a wink. Haley smiled back at him.

"Okay, here you go." She heard Lucas say beside her as he handed her a Coke.

"Thanks." Haley said as she took the drink and the two of them headed towards Chase.

The group Chase was standing in immediately made room for Lucas and Haley. Chase circled his arm around Haley's waist and then pulled her in for a kiss. A little shocked at first, it took Haley a moment to respond. Thinking it was only a quick kiss, Haley began to pull away but Chase pulled her back in, going for a full on make-out session. Haley felt quite rude kissing right in front of all these people but didn't pull away. She didn't want to create an awkward moment in front of Lucas and all Chase's friends.

Across the room, Nathan was standing with Jackson and Carter from his basketball team as well as a few random girls from his year level. He watched Lucas and Haley get their drinks and walk towards Chase and a group of people.

_Damn, she looks good tonight._

Chase immediately grabbed Haley and pulled her in for a kiss. Nathan stiffened at the sight and felt the jealously rising in his chest as he realised they were fully making out.

_So not what I needed to see right now._

Nathan couldn't help but notice that Haley looked a little awkward, almost as if she didn't even want to kiss Chase.

_Don't be an idiot, you're just trying to see something that isn't there. _

Nathan then looked away from the pair and tried to focus on one of the girls that had been shamelessly trying to flirt with him for the past ten minutes.

"What was your name again?" Nathan asked the skinny blonde girl to his left. She was quite attractive, but had completely ruined herself with fake tan, trashy clothes and way too much make-up. Exactly the type that Nathan was used to, which was the exact opposite of what he wanted.

"Carla", the girl replied hopefully.

_Well, I guess she's going to have to do for tonight._

Nathan then gave her his signature smirk. "Cool."

After a good minute or so, Haley pulled away from Chase. She was really not feeling it tonight. Not that he noticed. The two then turned to the group who were having conversations of their own. Chase, still with his hand resting firmly on Haley's hip, turned to his side and began talking to his friend Harry about some video game. Haley wasn't really interested in any of the conversations going on around her so she turned her head towards the dance floor, trying to see if she could spot Nathan again. She looked back at the same place he was standing before and felt her heart sink at the sight of him with his tongue down the throat of some blonde slut. Haley immediately turned back around, resisting the urge to throw up.

"You alright, babe?" Chase asked, looking down at her.

Haley put on a tight smile. "Yeah, I'm fine."

Chase noticed Haley wasn't enjoying herself and figured it was because she was bored with the guys they were around. Which was partly true.

"Wanna get out of here?" He asked, turning his back to Harry to look her in the eye.

She might not have been feeling it before but seeing Nathan kissing some random skank had pushed that thought right out of Haley's mind. "Yeah. Let's go to my house."

Chase grabbed Haley's hand and said goodbye to the group. They walked across the dance floor and Haley spotted Brooke dancing with the same random guy from earlier. She caught her eye and motioned to her that she was leaving. Brooke gave her a wink and then turned back to the guy, laughing as he spun her around.

Nathan detached himself from Carla's face.

"I'm going to get a drink." He said to her, then began to walk towards the bar. Haley and Chase walked right by him, hand in hand and he watched as they exited the club. Nathan felt his blood boil as the thought of what they were about to do. He immediately ditched the idea of getting a drink and turned back around, heading back towards Carla and fiercely began to make out with her again.

Haley led Chase out the door of the club and led him towards her car. She got in the driver's seat and he jumped in the passenger seat beside her. Haley started the engine and backed out of the parking lot, heading towards her house.

_Here's to forgetting all about Nathan Scott._


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter Nine**

Nathan woke up the following morning with a raging headache. Before he even opened his eyes he knew that today was going to be a struggle. He slowly opened each eyelid and winced at the harsh sunlight streaming through the window. Not yet ready to take his head off the pillow, Nathan stretched out his limbs in his huge king size bed. He immediately felt his left arm and left leg hit another body that seemed to be lying in bed with him. Nathan quickly recoiled from the touch and lifted his head to see who it was. All he saw was a mess of blonde hair covering a girl's face while her bare shoulder peeped out from the top of the covers.

_Ohh. That's right._

The girl from last night had proven to be quite easy. Almost as soon as Haley and Chase left the club, Nathan had pulled her to the side of the dance floor and invited her home with him. She answered exactly how he thought she would - by nodding and taking his hand as he lead her outside. From what Nathan could remember, she hadn't been anything great.

Nathan poked the girl's shoulder in an attempt to wake her up. When she didn't move, Nathan tried again but by giving her shoulder a shake this time. The blonde rolled over and opened her eyes. She immediately smiled when she saw Nathan looking down at her. "Hey."

"Hi." Nathan replied bluntly, his face motionless.

"Were you watching me sleep?" The girl asked giggling, obviously hoping for more than a one night stand.

"No," Nathan said as he watched the girl's face fall. "I just needed to wake you up. You need to go now, I don't usually let people sleep over."

The girl's forehead wrinkled and Nathan could tell that he'd upset her. He sighed. These girls were always the same, never understanding that he didn't want a relationship with them. Nathan thought it was stupid though, how these girls could actually think that he'd want to go out with them after he'd slept with them only a few hours after meeting. Like that is how he'd set up the start of a serious relationship. Nathan did feel slightly bad for this girl though.

"But thanks, uhh.." Nathan searched his brain for the girl's name. "Carmen?"

"Carla." The blonde corrected as she pulled on her jeans.

_Carla, right. Carla Campbell from his business class._

"No problem, I guess, Nathan. See you around."

Carla headed towards his bedroom door but just before leaving turned around. "Give me a call anytime and we can do something."

When she was out of sight, Nathan rolled his eyes and then drew his curtains before flopping back down onto his bed.

_God, I hate Sundays._

Haley woke up to the loud sound of metal crashing to the kitchen floor. She immediately sprang up in bed.

"What the hell was that?" She heard her sister say from the living room.

"Sorry Taylor." She heard Chase reply. "I dropped the pan."

Haley looked at the time on her alarm clock – 11.56am. Deciding that she'd slept for long enough, Haley climbed out of bed and walked out into the kitchen.

"You gave me a freaking heart attack!" Taylor exclaimed at Chase as she also walked into the kitchen.

"Same here." Haley said. Chase turned to her and smiled.

"Hey! You're up." He said. "Sorry, did I wake you?"

"Don't worry about it." Haley responded, sitting down at the kitchen bench alongside Taylor.

"I'm making breakfast." Chase told them both.

"What kind of breakfast?" Taylor asked.

"Pancakes."

Taylor and Haley immediately both scrunched up their noses.

"What?" Chase asked, noticing their expressions.

"Pancakes?" Taylor asked, extremely unamused. "It's not like it's the first day of Lent tomorrow, make some bacon!"

"And eggs." Haley added. "Oh and toast!"

Chase stared at both of them like they were crazy. "You don't like pancakes?"

Haley frowned at him. "They are just so like, blah. And I'm not in the mood for blah."

"Me neither." Taylor said.

"I'm starving." Haley continued. "Pleeeeeeease Chase, I'll let you be my boyfriend!"

Chase laughed. "Fine, I'll make you bacon and eggs."

"And toast." Both Haley and Taylor said at the same time.

"_And _toast." Chase said as he began to get out the ingredients.

"Thankyou!" Haley said and then turned to Taylor. "What did you get up to last night? I didn't even see you at the opening."

"Oh yeah. I left pretty early with this guy." Taylor responded nonchalantly.

"Ohh, of course you did." Haley rolled her eyes at her sister.

"Yeah well, I wasn't really into it so I came home around one." Taylor added, as if it excused her from her slutty ways. "And I heard you two when I came in, so don't look at me like that Haley."

Haley sunk into her kitchen chair, with an uncomfortable expression on her face.

Taylor, noticing her look, said, "Yeah, how do you think I felt? At least put some music or something on next time."

Haley saw Chase laughing out of the corner of her eye. She leaned across the bench and hit him in the arm. "It's not funny."

Still laughing, Chase replied, "It's kinda funny."

"Yeah, don't be embarrassed Hales!" Taylor teased her younger sister.

"Can we please talk about something else!" Haley yelled, turning bright red.

Taylor and Chase laughed at her.

"Yeah okay." Taylor relented. "That Carter Brown guy from your year at school is hot, Hales. I saw him at Tric last night."

Haley's stomach flipped. She had also seen Carter last night. He had been standing with Nathan. Haley felt sick at the memory of him with his tongue down Carla Campbell's throat. She knew that she never liked Carla. She was a resident slut at Tree Hill High but annoyingly got pretty good grades. Nothing compared to Haley but still, the girl wasn't an idiot. It frustrated Haley that she couldn't hold that over Carla's head. Normally she could look down on people like that because they let their social lives take over their schooling. But not Carla. Haley didn't know what she was getting so worked up over anyway. It's not like Nathan was her boyfriend or anything. She decided that she'd just have to push the thought out of her mind.

"Yeah, he's on the basketball team with Chase." Haley replied.

"Ohh really?" Taylor then turned her attention to Chase. "What's he like?"

"He's alright." Chase said uneasily. "Good enough player but kind of a dick."

"Ahh, just my type!" Taylor said with a smile.

"Yeah well, I guess that's what you'd expect from one of Nathan Scott's best friends." Chase said.

"Nathan Scott?" Taylor questioned. "Star of the team right? Cutie with the black hair?"

Haley narrowed her eyes at her sister.

"Yeah, that's him." Chase said.

Taylor smiled. "Yeah, well let me tell you – that is not the only thing he is the star of."

Haley's eyes widened. "What?"

"Like two years ago, I went to a party and he was there." Taylor told Haley. "Pretty sure I was his first." Taylor said, looking quite proud of herself.

Haley felt her heart drop. A million thoughts were racing through her mind as she tried to digest the news.

"Yuck." Chase said, pulling a face. "Taylor he's like two years younger than you."

"Age is just a number, baby." Taylor dismissed, flicking her wrist.

"I have to go get changed." Haley said quickly, hastily getting up to leave the room.

"Babe, you haven't eaten your breakfast!" Chase said as she walked past him.

Haley turned to face him., "Sorry, suddenly I'm not very hungry."

Haley then walked out of the kitchen and Chase gave a confused look to Taylor. Taylor just shrugged her shoulders. "Don't look at me, I've been living with her for seventeen years and I still can't figure her out."

Haley walked into her room, shutting the door and flopping down onto her bed.

_God, I hate Sundays._

Monday morning at Tree Hill High was dull. It was the second last week before school ended for the summer. Exams were over so there was no real point in being at school yet everyone was there anyway. The school yearbooks were being handed out today and Haley was excited to receive hers. When the lunch bell rang, Haley spotted a table in the middle of the corridor with yearbooks stacked on the top. There weren't many people around so Haley quickly rushed up in order to avoid waiting in a queue. Her excitement quickly faded however, when she saw that none other than Carla Campbell was handing out the yearbooks. Haley stuck a sickly sweet smile on her face as she went to collect her book. "Carla."

"Hey Haley." Carla responded in the same tone. The two girls never really liked each other. "Here for your yearbook?"

_No, I just felt like coming up and standing in front of this table full of yearbooks because I have nothing better to do. What the hell does she think?_

"Yeah, I am." Haley replied.

Carla handed Haley a book. "So you had fun after the Tric opening the other night?"

Haley frowned at Carla. "What do you mean?"

"Well I saw you leaving with Chase pretty early.." Carla looked at her suggestively. Haley _really _didn't like this girl.

"Oh, yeah." Haley said. She couldn't believe Carla - asking her something like that! Like she wants to tell her! "You too, I saw."

Carla blushed, well she pretended to. "Yeah, I just couldn't keep Nathan off me."

The sick feeling returned to Haley's stomach. _Oh, why did I say anything?  
_"He really is sooo sexy. And he was so sweet." Carla continued bragging. "He let me stay at his house the entire night and when I woke up, he was watching me sleep."

"Good for you, Carla." Haley snapped sarcastically. Haley then turned away from the table and quickly strutted off, yearbook in hand.

The rest of the day passed by slowly and Haley wasn't able to get what Carla had said out of her mind. _"He really is sooo sexy." Tell me something I didn't already know, Carla._

Taylor's words from yesterday were still ringing in her ears too. _Of all people, of all the chances, why did Taylor have to have Nathan? Why did Taylor have to be Nathan's first?_

That part was even worse. Haley figured there was no point in worrying about it, what's done is done, and she hardly even knows Nathan so she shouldn't care anyway.

After school finished, Haley made her way down to the gym for cheerleading practise. Just before she reached the gym doors, Haley heard a voice yell from behind her. "Haley!"

Nathan had seen Haley walking down the corridor as he was on his way to basketball training. The image of her and Chase walking out of Tric together had been playing in his mind for the past 24 hours. It made him shudder and at first he had wanted to ignore Haley. Nathan then realised that he had nothing to be angry with Haley about, so he couldn't really be mean to her. Chase was her boyfriend and she hardly knew him. Nathan called her name just before she entered the gym. Haley turned around, her long dark hair tied up in a ponytail that spun when she moved. Nathan noticed her stiffen as he walked towards her.

"Hey."

"Hey." Haley replied. She seemed nervous or something. Nathan was confused.

"Sorry for running off and leaving you with Lucas the other night." Nathan said, trying to break the tension.

"It's fine." Haley said, looking down at her shoes. "You have fun after I was gone?"

It was now Nathan's turn to stiffen. His body language definitely didn't go unnoticed by Haley. "Uhh, it was alright. Pretty average."

Haley couldn't help but smile at the thought of Nathan describing Carla as average.

"It was much better when I was with you." Nathan said. Haley's small grin then changed into a bright smile.

"Oh yeah?" Haley asked.

"Nahh, don't think you're that special." Nathan teased. Haley rolled her eyes at him.

"So, what's up with you and Carla?" Haley asked now that the mood was lighter. Nathan felt his stomach drop. "You two like a thing now?" Haley held her breath as she waited for an answer.

After a moment's pause, Nathan quickly blew it off with a laugh. "No! Carla Campbell? As if!"

Haley breathed out a sigh of relief.

"I don't do girlfriends, James. And if I did, you really think I'd pick _Carla Campbell?_"

Haley laughed. "Yeah I guess you have a point." She said as she shrugged her shoulders.

"Yeah I do have a point." Nathan laughed with her as he pushed open the doors to the gym.

Just before they parted ways, Nathan decided to take hold of the opportunity. "Hey Haley, are you doing anything on Saturday?"

Haley was surprised that he'd asked her that. She didn't even check in her head to see if she was doing anything on Saturday. "No, I don't think so, why?"

"Well, I was just wondering if you wanted to hang out." Nathan said. "You know seeing as we're friends now, right?"

Haley smiled. "Well, well, is Nathan Scott actually asking a girl to _only _be his friend?"

"Trust me, I'm as weirded out as you are!" Nathan responded.

Haley pretended to think about it for a moment, already knowing what her answer was going to be. "Yeah, okay." She smiled at him. "But, I'm warning you, if you bore me too much I;m going to have to ditch you."

"Ohhh!" Nathan laughed as he started walking towards the team. "Well, I promise you that won't happen."

**Please Review :)**


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter Ten**

**Thanks again to KTxx, you're amazing with your loyal reviews! Also a big thanks to the others who reviewed and alerted/favourited. You're all beautiful! I hope you enjoy, this chapter is a bit longer than usual. I'm trying to make them longer for you guys so I hope you like it xxx**

There was only one word to describe Friday – boring.

Haley reluctantly dragged herself to each class which was just as pointless as the next. Everyone of her teachers telling the students how they've had a great time teaching the class and preparing them for what to expect for their senior year. The class would groan every time the teacher began to talk about how the pressure would be raised and how more would be expected of them when they returned to school in September. Completely forgetting about the fact that right now, nobody cared about what they were saying. All the students of Tree Hill High were just hoping for one more week of school to flash by so they could finally enjoy summer vacation.

When the last bell of the day finally rang, Haley let out an immense sigh of relief. Practically sprinting to her locker so she could grab her things and leave as soon as possible, Haley nearly knocked over several other students also enjoying the arrival of the weekend. As Haley quickly packed her bag, she felt a hand reach across her back and rest on her shoulder.

"Hey babe," Haley heard her boyfriend whisper in her ear. "What's on for tonight?"

Haley felt herself die a little inside. All she wanted to do right now was go home, get in ridiculously comfortable yet extremely unfashionable pyjamas and lie on the couch watching movies. She also needed time to figure out what to wear for tomorrow while hanging out with Nathan. Haley was really not in the mood to make up some excuse as to why Chase couldn't come over but she didn't want to hurt his feelings.

"I'm actually _really_ tired," Haley said turning to face Chase, making sure she emphasised the word 'really' so he would get the message. "I think I just need to get home and sleep."

"Oh, okay." Chase replied, looking a little put out.

"But don't worry!" Haley quickly said as she noticed his disappointment. "On Sunday the whole day will just be about you and me."

Chase smiled then looked a little puzzled. "On Sunday? Why not tomorrow?"

Haley resisted the urge to roll her eyes. She loved Chase, she really did, but sometimes he could be so clingy. He would have to know what she was doing every minute of every day and it got frustrating. She knew lying about what she was actually doing tomorrow was wrong, especially as it was an extremely innocent situation in her eyes. Haley just couldn't be bothered going through the - no doubt - extremely time consuming motion of explaining to Chase how her and Nathan have become friends and are going to hang out tomorrow. So she lied.

"Well I'm going to have a massive sleep in and then I have to work at the cafe from 2 o'clock onwards." Haley lied. Haley waited for her stomach to drop from the guilt of lying to her boyfriend. But it didn't. Usually, whenever Haley had to lie to someone she immediately got this sickly feeling in the pit of her stomach. She hated lying. But right now, she felt nothing.

_Oh God, what's wrong with me? Am I becoming some sort of horrible person who can't feel for others anymore?_

Suddenly, Haley realised she was starting to feel guilty for not feeling guilty and discarded the thought.

"Oh, alright then." Chase replied, his tone returning to casual from inquisitive. "Have a good sleep then babe, I'll call you tomorrow night."

Chase then leant in for a quick kiss and walked down the hallway, exiting the glass doors. Haley turned back towards her locker and grabbed her bag. She closed her locker door and jumped back a little when she saw Nathan's face waiting on the other side of where the door had been. Nathan laughed at her."Didn't scare you did I?"

Haley narrowed her eyes at him in response to his sarcasm. "No, I just don't like surprises."

"You must be very happy with Chase then." Nathan replied. "Can't imagine there ever being any surprises there."

Haley hit Nathan in the arm. "Excuse me! Chase always surprises me." She defended.

"Really?" Nathan asked, raising his eyebrows obviously not believing her.

"Yes." Haley replied confidently.

"So that must mean you're not happy with him then." Nathan said, teasing her.

"What?"

"Well you said you hate surprises and that Chase always surprises you." Nathan replied with a smirk, quite pleased with himself. "So that must mean that you hate being with Chase."

Haley glared at him while she tried to think of a comeback. "Well, I, um.."

"Yes?" Nathan asked sarcastically.

"Oh shut up!" Haley exclaimed. "I like surprises, but not the kind that scare me."

"So I did scare you?" Nathan asked, knowing that he had got her now.

Haley slumped her shoulders. _Dammit. _She wasn't about to accept defeat though. "I'm just not used to people being right behind my locker door, that's all."

Nathan smiled. "Well I'm sure that's not true." He said, continuing after seeing the confused look on her face. "A girl as beautiful as you would surely always have guys waiting on the other side of her locker for her."

Just like that, Haley's frustration faded away and her frown was replaced with a shy smile.

_He just called me beautiful._

Nathan noticed the smile and was pleased with himself. "So, do you just wanna come over to my house tomorrow?" He asked her. "We could just go for a walk or watch movies or something."

Haley's smile grew. Nothing extravagant, nothing awkward. Just two friends hanging out, getting to know each other the right way. Even though Haley would never tell Chase, she hated their first date. He'd taken her to some really fancy restaurant where they sat face to face constantly asking each other questions so the conversation wouldn't die and things couldn't get awkward. Haley had no problem with dinner dates or doing something fancy every once in a while, but she thought it was something a fairly established couple should do. Like maybe the fourth or fifth date could be a fancy dinner. But the initial few dates she felt should be about having fun, being relaxed and not having the pressure of having to speak to each other all the time. Haley thought that that was the best way to get to know somebody, not sitting opposite them in some uncomfortable outfit as the other person mentally dissected their words trying to formulate a sentence to try and impress her. Haley wanted to know the real person straight away instead of still not knowing what they were really like at the end of the first date. It made Haley feel uneasy, getting into something she didn't know much about. Even though this thing with Nathan wasn't a date, she was really glad he wasn't trying to impress her. He just wanted to spend time with her, be himself around her. And that's exactly what Haley wanted in return.

"Yeah, that sounds perfect." Haley said to Nathan. "Um, what's your address?"

"Don't worry, I'll pick you up." Nathan replied.

Haley furrowed her brow. "But how do you know where I live?"

Nathan froze. He'd forgotten about that, now he just looked like a stalker. "Oh, umm" He said nervously. "Uhh, I dropped Lucas off there one day after training."

Haley looked at him in confusion for one more moment before relaxing. "Oh, okay thanks."

"No problem," Nathan replied. "I'll see you around 12?"

"Yeah, that's perfect." Haley said, grateful that he had allowed her time to sleep in and still have enough time to get ready.

"Cool, I'll see you tomorrow Haley." Nathan smiled at her then turned and exited the glass doors at the end of the corridor.

"Yeah, I'll see you tomorrow Nathan."

Haley's alarm clock went off at 10:30am sharp. She quickly opened her eyes and jumped out of bed at the sound of her radio blaring inside her ear, not wanting to waste any time. Haley immediately got in the shower and then got dressed. The night before she had opted to just go casual for the day and seeing as summer was a few mere weeks away, Haley put on her faded denim blue shorts and a white cotton singlet top. She kept her dark brown locks naturally wavy and tied her hair up in a neat ponytail with the front bits pinned back. After putting on her make up, Haley decided to have breakfast. Walking into the kitchen, Haley saw her sister sitting at the bench with her head over a cereal bowl.

"Hey, you're up." Haley remarked.

"Hey, so are you." Taylor replied in the same way.

Neither of the two sisters had a good reputation for waking up particularly early.

"Yeah, but you're like up-up." Haley said, "You don't even look hung over."

"So?" Taylor questioned.

"So, it's Saturday morning!" Haley laughed. "When was the last time you weren't hung over on a Saturday morning?"

"I know right!" Taylor exclaimed, obviously quite proud of herself. "I didn't have a single drink last night. How much of a nerd am I?"

Haley raised her eyebrows, amused. "You could almost pass a Calculus exam." She quipped.

Haley reached into the pantry and pulled out a cereal box. As she began to pour herself a bowl, Taylor commented on her appearance.

"Who are you trying to impress today?"

Haley looked up at her sister. "What do you mean?"

"You've got your favourite top on." Taylor noted. "And you've done your hair and make-up."

"I'm just hanging out with a friend." Haley replied.

"A hot friend?" Taylor asked.

"Just a friend." Haley replied coyly.

"Oh my god, are you cheating on Chase?" Taylor asked, her eyes bugging out of her head. "Because I for one, think it would be totally awesome Hales. I mean Chase is cute and all but a little on the boring side.."

"Taylor! I'm not cheating on Chase!" Haley yelled.

Taylor sank back down into her seat. "Damn, I was getting excited. Well then who's the friend?"

"Just a guy from school."

"Does this guy have a name?" Taylor asked incredulously.

Haley tensed up. She really didn't want to have to talk to Taylor about this. "Uhh, yeah. It's Nathan."

Haley prayed to God that Taylor wouldn't asked for his last name.

"Nathan?" Taylor said, then she clicked. "Oh my god, as in Nathan Scott, Nathan?"

Haley winced. "Yeah, him."

Taylor's eyes bugged back out. "I didn't know you knew him! How the hell did that happen?"

"I don't know, it just did." Haley shrugged.

"Wow, this just got interesting." Taylor said excitedly. "Well I want to hear all about it when you get home Hales." Taylor got up out of her seat, leaving her bowl on the counter and heading towards the front door. "I'm going out but have fun. I think it's good not to stay tied down when you're so young Hales. Especially when you get to have Nathan Scott on the side!"

"Taylor! We're just friends!" Haley exclaimed.

"Whatever." Taylor said before walking out the door, closing it behind her.

Haley rolled her eyes frustrated then sat down to eat her breakfast. She looked at the clock hanging on the wall. It was 11:34am. Just enough time for Haley to relax before Nathan arrived.

At exactly 12:07pm, Haley heard a car beep outside. She grabbed her brown leather bag and slung it over her shoulder as she ran towards the door. As she stepped onto her front lawn, Haley saw a sleek black convertible waiting on the curb. Nathan rolled down his window.

"Hey," He said from inside his car.

"Hey." Haley smiled back. She ran around to the other side of the car and jumped in the passenger seat. "Thanks for picking me up."

"It's cool." Nathan replied. Haley took the chance to look him up and down. He was wearing dark blue jeans and a simple black t-shirt that matched the colour of his hair. And damn did he look good. She could smell his cologne from where she was sitting and it only increased his attractiveness. Nathan noticed her checking him out and smirked. "I look good today, don't I?"

"What?" Haley snapped out of her trance.

"Don't deny it Haley." Nathan teased. "I'm pretty sexy."

"Oh, shut up!" Haley shouted, starting to go red.

Nathan laughed. Nathan had gotten out of bed two hours ago, gone for a jog, had a shower and then got dressed to come and pick up Haley. It didn't take much for him to look amazing and he knew it.

"So I hope you like scary movies." Nathan said. "Coz I've hired out heaps for us to watch today."

A look of horror spread across Haley's face and Nathan chuckled. "Kidding."

Haley hit him in the arm. "Not funny. I _hate _scary movies."

"I'll make a mental note." Nathan replied. "So, no Chase today?"

"No," Haley said. "I don't hang out with him all the time."

"Seems like it. Well, him or Brooke." Nathan said.

"What are you, like stalking me?" Haley asked.

"Totally." Nathan replied sarcastically. "It's how I love to spend my spare time."

Haley laughed. "Whatever. And no, there's no Chase today."

"How long have you guys been going out for?" Nathan asked, as if he didn't already know.

"Uhh, since freshman year." Haley replied. "Gosh, seems like ages, doesn't it?"

"Yeah." Nathan said. "I can't imagine being with the same person for so long."

Haley made a face. "Yeah, sometimes I wonder how I've done it too." Haley then froze. She didn't mean to say that out loud, but something about Nathan just made it so easy for her to open up to him.

Nathan smiled. "Do you feel like it's been going for too long?"

"No!" Haley replied immediately. "It's not that, it's just I kind of wish I'd have given myself a bit more time, you know? Like I've been with Chase for nearly two years and I'm only seventeen. I haven't given myself much time to really discover who I am on my own. But I will never regret my relationship with him."

Nathan nodded. "Yeah, I guess that makes sense. Fifteen is pretty young."

"Yeah." Haley said. "How old are you? Seventeen?"

"Yeah," Nathan replied. "Eighteen in a few months though. September 16th."

"Ahh," Haley smiled. "Just as we go back to school. Lucky you."

"Shut up." Nathan laughed. "What about you? When's your birthday?"

Nathan already knew though, Haley had only turned seventeen a few weeks ago.

"April 18th." Haley replied. "It's just been."

"Happy birthday." Nathan smiled.

"Thanks."

"Our birthdays totally have that whole alliteration thing going on." Nathan said.

Haley laughed. "Yeah I guess, although technically mine isn't alliteration."

"Yeah well it sounds like it is."

"Yeah, points for knowing the word alliteration though Nathan." Haley teased. "Who knew you paid attention in English?"

"You don't know everything about me James." Nathan smirked. "I'm full of surprises."

"Yeah, I think we established that with the whole locker door incident."

Nathan laughed as he pulled into the driveway of his house.

"This is your house?" Haley asked, bewildered by the enormity of the mansion in front of her.

"Yeah, don't worry. It's not as good as it looks." Nathan replied.

"Oh please!" Haley said. "What did you do, rob Bill Gates?"

"Haha, no. Apparently my dad is pretty good at selling cars." Nathan responded.

"Right, Scott Motors. I forgot." Haley said, still in awe of the house. "Maybe I should think about getting into the car retail business."

"Don't." Nathan said. "Trust me, it's really boring."

"But totally worth it!" Haley replied. "Oh by the way, the house you picked me up from? We're just living there while the mansion gets renovated."

Nathan laughed. "Shut up, I don't care about your house. It looked pretty nice anyway."

"I used to think that too but then I saw this." Haley said as she gestured towards his house. "Now mine looks like something Eminem used to live in before he was famous."

Nathan just smiled at her and led her inside.

"Not as good as it looks?" Haley asked incredulously as she entered his living room. "Are you freaking kidding me?"

"Whatever. Wanna go to my room?" Nathan asked.

"Okay," Haley answered as she was twirling around the room, admiring the ceiling.

Nathan pulled at her arm and led her up the staircase. She flopped down onto his giant bed as soon as they entered the room. "Wanna trade lives?"

"I'm good." Nathan replied. "I'm not really into Chase that way."

Haley threw a pillow at him.

"Hey! That's my cushion, you be careful." He teased and then sat down beside her.

"So why have you never had a girlfriend?" Haley asked as she took off her shoes and sat crossed legged on his bed.

Nathan was thrown a little off guard. "Uhh, I don't know. Just never found anyone I really liked I guess."

"Maybe you're just too picky." Haley replied. "I mean, thousands of girls throw themselves at you every day. I'm pretty sure at least one of them could be fun to hang out with."

"Yeah, well I've never really wanted a girl who would just throw herself at a guy." Nathan said, looking intensely at Haley. He really wished she knew how he was referring to her.

"Hmm." Haley said. "Well then, seeing as we're friends now, it's my new mission to find you a girl worthy of your attention."

Nathan smiled. "Good luck with that." _I've already found that girl._

"Thanks, but I don't need it." Haley winked at him then noticed the game controller lying on the ground.

"You play video games?" She asked.

"What teenage guy doesn't?" Nathan asked.

"Wanna verse me? I'm pretty awesome." She said confidently.

"Oh please! You? Good at video games?" Nathan laughed.

"Hey! Don't judge. I have three older brothers. I know a lot more than you think I do."

"Three older brothers? How many siblings do you have?" Nathan asked.

"Six. I'm the youngest. Three brothers, three sisters." Haley replied. "I'm pretty sure I'm the only one who inherited the 'sane' gene. Which even that is pretty incredible if you've met my parents."

Nathan laughed. "God, I couldn't imagine that. There'd be so much noise."

"Oh yeah. I liked it though. I would always complain but I could never imagine growing up and not living in a house with lots of kids and noise. It's something I've always liked and wanted. I find it comforting." Haley said.

Nathan smiled at the thought of Haley wanting lots of kids when she was older. He was learning more and more about her every minute he was with her. And even though he didn't think it was possible, he was loving more and more about her every minute he was with her. "Okay, how about we play NBA live?"

"Okay, bring it on." Haley said with a smile.

"Just warning you though – I'm pretty awesome." Nathan said, using Haley's previous words.

"Game on, Scott."

**Please Review :)**


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter Eleven**

**Thank you so much everyone! I got the most reviews I've ever recieved in one chapter last time, I really appreciate it and it has motivated me to write more :)**

**KTxx – Thankyou :) And I'm pretty sure I mentioned something about the confidence thing in like chapter two or three, I can't remember! When they were on the drive, I'll try to patch it up if it's confusing you.**

**Naley12 – Thank you for reviewing the last few chapters, you're so sweet. I'm trying to upload as regularly as possible but occasionally I'm getting a bit snowed under with school work :)**

**Seems like there's lots of Chase hate too, haha. I'm glad everyone is picking up on his annoying traits. Thanks again guys xxx**

There was only one word to describe Saturday – amazing.

Haley and Nathan spent the afternoon playing video games, talking, eating and then playing even more video games. Nathan was surprised by her skills but he was just that bit too good for her.

"Whatever. You're a boy it doesn't count." Haley said as she lost the final game.

"Ohh, it counts!" Nathan replied. "Just admit it James, I'm better than you."

"Never." Haley said determinately. "I'm going to practise when I get home so that the next time you see me, I'll be wiping the floor with you."

"Yeah, I'd like to see that happen." Nathan said sarcastically.

Haley smiled then noticed the time on his alarm clock. 6:32pm.

"Crap, its six thirty already?" Haley said, slightly alarmed.

"Is it?" Nathan said, turning to look at the time himself. "So it is. Guess time flies when you're having fun, hey?"

Haley smiled. "Yeah. I have to get home though, I didn't realise how late it had gotten."

"That's cool, I'll drive you." Nathan said and the two headed downstairs.

Haley had really enjoyed the day. They had talked about everything and nothing. From TV shows, to political views, to stating their opinion on basically every single person in their grade. Half the time Nathan would reply with, "Who? I've never heard that name in my life." Haley would then roll her eyes and try to jog his memory. It didn't really work but Haley still got the picture. Obviously none of them were entertaining enough for Nathan to remember, which pretty much summed up his opinion of them.

As Haley was getting into the passenger seat of Nathan's car, she smiled when she remembered that he had shared her opinion of Nina Carroll. Academically, Nina was second from the top of the class, just below Haley. She was always trying to find flaws in not only Haley's school work, but Haley in general. The girl was such an over achiever and Haley couldn't stand her. When Nathan asked, "Is she the annoying blonde who thinks she knows the answers to everything?", it had literally made Haley's day.

"You going to the beach party next Friday night?" Nathan asked her as they drove down his street. Next Friday night, Brooke had organised a giant beach party to celebrate the ending of the school year. Everyone was going.

"Yeah, Brooke would kill me if I wasn't there." Haley replied with a laugh.

"Good, I'll see you there then." Nathan took his eyes off the road for a moment to turn his head and smile at her. She returned the gesture.

As Haley saw her house was approaching, she took the moment to thank him. "I had a really good time today, Nathan. Thanks."

"No problem," He replied. "I did too, Hales."

Haley smiled at the use of her nickname. She then spied his phone falling halfway out of his jean pocket. She reached over and pulled it out.

"What are you doing?" Nathan asked her.

"Putting my number in." Haley replied, keying her digits into the phone as she spoke. "Now we're real friends. My number is sacred so don't share it with just anybody."

She winked at him and he laughed as her pulled into her driveway.

"Okay, well I'll see you on Monday. Bye Nathan." Haley said, leaning over and kissing Nathan on the cheek."Thanks again."

Nathan froze for a moment before he snapped back to reality. "Hey, wait!" He called as she was climbing out of the car.

"Yeah?" Haley asked, standing on the pavement talking to him through the open car door.

"Don't you want my number?" He asked.

Haley smiled. "Well, I guess you're just going to have to call me."

Haley shut the car door and headed inside.

Nathan laughed and pulled out of her driveway. He was definitely going to do that later.

Haley still had the biggest grin on her face as she entered her house. After shutting the front door, she leant her back against it and put her head in her hands. Even though the day had ended, she felt so excited. Her moment was interrupted however when she heard a high pitch shriek coming from the living room. Before Haley knew it, Brooke was standing right in front of her, shaking with excitement. "You went out with Nathan today?"

Haley rolled her eyes. "No. We just hung out."

Brooke wasted no time asking questions.

"Since when have you two been hanging out? Since when does Nathan just hang out with girls? Why has he never asked me to hang out?" Brooke asked all three questions in a single breath, not allowing any time for Haley to even process what she was asking, let alone answer her questions.

"Brooke, we're friends. I'm sure you guys could be too if you stopped hitting on him and just talked to him normally for once." Haley said.

Brooke tilted her head sideways and scrunched up her nose. "Really? That works?" She asked, looking puzzled.

"Yep, never thought of that one did you?" Haley quipped.

Brooke paused for a moment. "No actually. Never." She shrugged.

"Well then it seems like I've discovered a new method on how to talk to guys." Haley said. "Who told you that I was hanging out with Nathan anyway?"

"Taylor." Brooke answered. Haley rolled her eyes. Of course it had been Taylor. "I've been here for like half an hour waiting for you and I saw Taylor before she left." Brooke clarified. "You still up for movie night?"

_Oh shit. I'd forgotten about that._

"Yeah, definitely." Haley replied with full enthusiasm. Even though she had forgotten about the night they had planned, Haley was in a really good mood and felt like hanging out with her best friend.

"Good!" Brooke said excitedly and pulled Haley upstairs, into her bedroom.

After they both got changed, the two girls raided the kitchen and found every source of unhealthy food they could find. Piling it all on top of a massive tray, the two girls headed for the living room to start watching _Mean Girls_. A classic for anyone their age. About fifteen minutes into the movie, Brooke began to talk.

"So what's Nathan like?" She asked. "All about the basketball? All about the girls?"

Haley laughed. "No actually. We talked about all kinds of stuff, I guess. He's relatively normal."

"Really?" Brooke questioned. "Normal?"

"Okay, well I guess not normal. His house is massive!" Haley exclaimed. "But he's sweet you know. Different that what I expected, I can't really explain it."

Brooke watched as her friend described Nathan. She could tell that she liked him, her eyes said it all. "You totally love him." Brooke said.

"No, I don't!" Haley defended. "We're friends."

"Yeah, friends who want to have sex." Brooke smiled.

"Brooke!" Haley laughed, kicking her best friend who was lying on the opposite end of the couch.

"What?" Brooke asked innocently. "Come on, Hales. You can't say you don't want him. He's gorgeous!"

"I haven't thought about it." Haley said.

"Oh please! Yes you have." Brooke laughed. "Every girl in our freaking school has thought about it."

Haley had to laugh. She knew it was true. "Yeah, okay I guess."

"Yeah! See, I've always thought there was just something missing between you and Chase and even though I totally wanted Nathan first, I'm prepared to let it slide..." Brooke started staying until Haley cut her off.

"Woah, Brooke. I'm not like, leaving Chase for Nathan or anything." Haley said, frowning. "Nathan and I are just friends."

"Oh, yeah I know." Brooke said, pausing to think of how to backtrack out of what she had just said. "I just was uhh, pointing out that Nathan has a few things Chase doesn't."

Haley couldn't disagree with Brooke there. But she was concerned about what her friend had said earlier. "What do you mean, there is something missing between me and Chase?" Haley asked. "Like what?"

Brooke froze in her place, running through possible answers in her head. She then remembered that she and Haley had always been honest with each other about everything. So Brooke knew she couldn't lie.

"Well, I don't know Hales. Don't you just feel like sometimes, he's holding you back?" Brooke asked tentatively.

Haley frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Like how he made you give up that summer school you really wanted to go to." Brooke said.

"He didn't make me." Haley defended. "I chose to stay here with him."

"Yeah, but he didn't really give you much of a choice Hales." Brooke continued. "It's not like you were going to just reject him in front of all those people."

Haley went to speak but Brooke cut her off. "Don't get me wrong, Chase is great. You and Chase are great. He's really sweet and he adores you but sometimes it seems like you're staying in the relationship for him and not for you."

Haley squirmed. Deep down, she knew Brooke was right. Haley had thought about it many times but had always pushed the thought to the back of her mind. She didn't want to fool herself into thinking there was something wrong with Chase when there wasn't. He was great, just like Brooke said. Haley just put the feeling down to curiosity but somewhere inside her, she knew there was more to it. Haley knew that Chase got on her nerves and didn't make her feel the way she was supposed to when she was in love. However, Haley also knew that she cared for Chase deeply and that feeling shouldn't just be discarded.

Brooke watched as Haley thought, trying to scan her brain. Unable to take her silence any longer, Brooke grabbed Haley's hand. "Don't hate me."

Haley snapped out of her thoughts and laughed at her best friend. "I could never hate you Tigger." She said, pulling Brooke into a hug. "And I do see your point but I'm not just going to go and break up with Chase. I've been with him for so long and he really does mean so much to me."

Brooke nodded. She knew Haley was telling the truth. Haley did love Chase. She didn't know if Haley was _in _love with Chase but she definitely loved him. He'd practically been her first everything and they'd been through a lot together.

"Yeah, I know." Brooke said softly. "Enough with this sad talk, hey? Let's watch the movie!"

Haley smiled at Brooke. "Yeah, let's."

The two girls then snuggled up close to one another on the couch and continued watching _Mean Girls_.

Haley woke the next morning to Brooke kicking her. They couldn't be bothered making another bed for Brooke to sleep on once the two girls had decided to go to bed, so Brooke just jumped in with Haley. What was a good idea at the time seemed to have backfired on Haley now though. Haley groaned and got out of bed. She knew she wouldn't be able to get back to sleep now. Haley grabbed her phone and walked downstairs, into the kitchen. She made herself a bowl of cereal and sat down to eat it in front of the TV. While eating, Haley checked her phone and saw that she had two messages. She opened the first one which had been sent at 9.37am.

_Hey babe, call me when you wake up and I'll come get you. We should do something fun today. Chase, xx._

Haley read the message with tired eyes and inwardly groaned. She had promised Chase they'd spend the day together though, so she knew she'd have to call him soon. She checked the current time on her phone before opening the second message. It was 10.28am. She could wait for at least another hour before having to call Chase, he wouldn't expect her to be up yet. Haley then opened the second message, which had only been sent a few minutes ago, and instantly smiled.

_Just making sure that you have my number. You know, just in case you're ever in need of a good time._

Haley laughed and saved Nathan's number into her phone, before replying to his text.

_Well thanks, but I'm usually in a good mood anyway so it looks like I won't ever be calling you._

Haley clicked send and then finished her breakfast. She switched off the TV and walked over to the kitchen, putting her bowl in the sink. She heard a loud thud come from upstairs.

"Oww!" Brooke shrieked from Haley's bedroom. Haley ran up the stairs and found Brooke lying on the ground, still wrapped in Haley's bed covers. Haley immediately began to laugh at her.

"Did you just fall out of the bed?"

"I prefer to think of it as starting my day with a bang." Brooke replied, still lying on the ground. Haley laughed and pulled the blanket off her, helping Brooke off the ground.

"What have you got planned for the day H. James?" Brooke asked chirpily as they walked down the stairs.

"I'm doing something with Chase. " Haley said casually.

"Oh," Brooke replied, uninterested. "You sound excited." Brooke then giggled.

Haley hit Brooke on the arm lightly. "Shut up, I'm just tired."

"Yeah, that's the reason." Brooke answered rolling her eyes. "I'm going to go raid P. Sawyer's music collection for the beach party."

"Oh!" Haley said with bright eyes. "Please nothing depressing."

"Don't worry." Brooke said confidently. "I'm in charge of the music this time, so there'll be no chance of anybody wanting to kill themselves at the party." She joked.

Haley laughed. "Good, I'm looking forward to it."

"Who isn't looking forward to it?" Brooke asked, talking at her usual high speed. "School's out, summer's here and there will be hot guys walking around without their shirts on. I'm as excited as a priest about to meet Jesus!"

Haley shook her head as she laughed at Brooke. "You're crazy."

"Yeah, but the good kind of crazy." Brooke pointed out. "Well I better catch you later Tutor Girl, let you have your day with your boyfriend leaving the rest of us depressed with the fact that we're alone."

Haley rolled her eyes. "Well, I'm sure Julian wouldn't mind taking your loneliness away. Maybe you should finally make a move at the party." Haley smiled teasingly at Brooke.

Brooke's eyes widened in surprise. "Who said anything about Julian?"

Haley smiled at her best friend. She knew her too well. "I don't know, aren't we allowed to speak of Julian?" Haley had known that Brooke had had a crush on him for years. Brooke was stubborn though and it was hard getting her to admit it. "You know, come to think of it I thought I heard that he asked Rachel out."

Brooke's eyes bugged out. "What? No! Why?"

Brooke felt like her heart was going to explode as Haley laughed at her. "I thought you didn't care about Julian?" Haley teased.

Brooke realised that Haley was only messing with her and her heart rate began to decrease. "Oh, shut up! I hate you!" Brooke playfully hit Haley over the shoulder and pretended to walk to the door in frustration. "I'm leaving to go raid the music collection of my new best friend."

Haley laughed and Brooke poked her tongue out at her. "See you later, Brooke!"

"Yeah, yeah." Brooke joked as she walked out the door, closing it behind her.

Haley walked up the stairs into her bedroom and then took a shower. Around 11:30, she called Chase to come and pick her up. Haley put on a simple white sundress and let her hair flow down in natural waves. Just as she heard Chase pull up in the driveway, Haley felt her phone vibrate.

_Well then I guess that means I'm just always going to be calling you._

Haley smiled at Nathan's message and instantly felt her mood improve. She heard Chase knock on the front door and she answered it.

"Hey babe," Chase said with a smile. "Ready to go?"

Haley smiled back. "Yeah."

The two then retreated to the car and after Haley sat down in the passenger's seat, she replied to Nathan's message.

_I'm going to hold you to that, Scott. _

**Please Review! Beach party next chapter :)**


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter Twelve**

**Hey guys! Sorry for the delay, my computer had a virus and everything got deleted so I had to start over which was really annoying. Anyway, I'm here now :)**

**Thank you so much to everybody who had reviewed, I don't think I can say that enough.**

**IcyGold – Don't worry, making Haley cheat on Chase has never been a part of my plan for this story. Thanks for your review x**

Before Haley knew it, Friday night had arrived. She and Brooke had just got back to Brooke's house to start getting ready for the party. The day had passed by so quickly. School was finally out and summer had officially arrived.

Haley looked around Brooke's room as she waited for her friend to come out of the bathroom. Brooke had one of the biggest bedrooms she'd ever seen. The walls were a light shade of purple and she had a deep red queen size bed that lay directly in the centre of the room. Everything was colour coded and perfect, just like Brooke was. Then again, if she didn't have a maid cleaning it up for her everyday, who knows what her room might have actually looked like.

Haley walked over to Brooke's bright red desk which had a large mirror on top. Pictures of parties, boys and cheerleading competitions were decoratively stuck all around the edge of the mirror. Most of the photos however, were of Brooke and Haley. The whole left side of the mirror seemed to be dedicated to pictures of the two best friends. Haley smiled as her eyes roamed the pictures. The photo at the top was of Brooke and Haley both at nine years old, sitting underneath the bridge down the road from Brooke's house. Their hair was messy, their clothes were ugly and they didn't have an ounce of make-up on but they had the biggest smiles on their faces. Haley sighed as she remembered how simple everything used to be.

Her eyes continued to scan the pictures until she reached the last picture at the bottom. It had been taken a few months ago at a party held by Ava Steadman, a cheerleader in their squad. The theme of the party was to come dressed entirely in your favourite colour. In the picture, Brooke had a skin tight red dress on and was poking her tongue out at the camera through her deep red lips. One arm was around Haley's shoulder, who was laughing and looking down, wearing a short white strapless dress. Haley laughed to herself as she remembered the conversation she'd had with Brooke before that party. Brooke had gone on and on about how white was a shade, not a colour and how even if it was a colour if was way too boring to be Haley's favourite. Haley had insisted on going dressed in white though. She didn't really have a favourite colour and white went well with everything. Besides, it was the only colour she could think of that she thought would look good worn entirely.

Haley heard a click at the bathroom door and turned around to see Brooke walking into the bedroom. She was wearing a red bikini but you could only see the straps around her neck as she had put a short yellow cloth dress over the top.

"It's about time!" Haley teased. "What were you doing in there?"

"Hey! This kind of perfection takes time." Brooke hit back with a smile.

Haley rolled her eyes at her friend. "Okay well I have to go put my make-up on and then we'll go."

"Okay!" Brooke said excitedly. She then turned to check herself out in her floor length mirror. By the time Brooke was finished looking at herself, Haley had come out of the bathroom.

"You know I've heard if you stare at yourself in the mirror for too long, it ages you." Haley said.

Brooke turned around in alarm. "Are you serious?"

"Yeah, so you're probably going to be looking like a grandma by the time you're thirty."

Brooke's jaw dropped in horror.

"I'm just kidding, you idiot." Haley laughed. "But seriously, there's only so much time a person should look at themselves for."

Brooke threw a cushion at Haley. "Whatever, you bitch."

Haley laughed as she dodged the cushion. "Okay, you ready to go?"

Brooke picked up her bag and nodded. "Yeah, I'm ready to go be around people who actually appreciate me." She said poking her tongue out at Haley.

Haley rolled her eyes and picked up her bag. "Okay. Well hopefully this will be fun."

"Of course it will be Tutor Girl, I organised it!" Brooke said, her excite voice having returned. Brooke then took her friends hand and led her out the door. "It's time to party!"

Nathan smirked at himself in the mirror as he surveyed his appearance. He looked good and he knew it. Dressed in dark blue swimming trunks and an unbuttoned white shirt that exposed his toned chest, he knew he would have the girls drooling tonight. Nathan picked up his wallet and his keys and stuffed them into his short pocket. After spraying himself with cologne and taking a final look in the mirror, he left the house to go and pick up Lucas.

Brooke and Haley arrived at the beach half an hour before the party started. As the organiser, Brooke decided she should be there before everyone showed up to make sure everything was in order. Mouth and Peyton were already there, setting up the sound system and going through songs to play for the night. Various people were scattered around the beach, waiting for the party to start. A few of the guys of the football team were there too as Brooke had asked them to help out with the bonfire. As Haley and Brooke stepped out onto the sand, they immediately heard a very excited voice from behind them.

"Haley! Brooke!"

They turned around and saw none other than Tim Smith running towards them. Brooke turned back the other way and continued walking, knowing Tim would follow her.

"The guys and I set up the bonfire." He said. "Do you like it? It's awesome right?"

Brooke rolled her eyes. "Oh, look. It's Tim. I had a dream you died. Damn."

Haley stifled a laugh and then hit Brooke on the shoulder. "It's great Tim. Thanks."

Haley nodded at Tim to let him know that it was time for him to leave them alone. Just like a faithful puppy dog, he then turned and let them be.

"You're so mean." Haley laughed.

"You love it." Brooke smiled back.

An hour later, the beach was packed with people. Music was blaring and already people were starting to get drunk. Haley walked over to talk to Peyton who was at the music stand.

"Hey girlie." She said happily.

"Hey!" Peyton replied in a much chirpier tone than usual. It seemed the holiday spirit had even gotten to Peyton Sawyer. "Having fun?"

"Yeah, it's actually better than I thought it would be." Haley replied.

"Yeah, same here." Peyton said. "Want to choose the next song?"

"Hell yes!" Haley replied excitedly. Music was something her and Peyton had always bonded over. Brooke and Lucas had always been Haley's best friends, but Peyton came in a very close second. Even more so now that she was going out with Luke.

Nathan's sleek black car pulled into the beach parking lot. As soon as he and Lucas stepped out, heads immediately turned and people began to greet them. Guys were giving them high fives and girls were giving them winks. They were treated like Gods around these people, but they were the Scott brothers. What did everyone expect?

Peyton and Haley were going through songs as the guys arrived. Peyton looked up as she heard the commotion and saw that her boyfriend and his brother were there.

"Oh! Haley, there's Luke. Do you mind if I go say hi?" Peyton asked.

"No, that's fine." Haley said, without looking up.

Haley began to fiddle around with the buttons on the sound system, pretending like she was a DJ when she really wasn't actually doing anything. She liked feeling and looking like she was though. As she continued to play around with the buttons, she felt an arm slide around her waist.

"Hey babe." She heard Chase whisper in her ear.

"Hey!" Haley said back happily, turning to give her boyfriend a kiss.

Across the sand, Nathan had finally made his way through everyone. He looked around, searching for Haley. Before he could find her though, he felt a hand grab his shoulder.

"Nate!" Carter said to him.

"Hey man." Nathan replied, shaking his hand.

Nathan pretended to be listening to what Carter was saying as he continued to search the beach. His eyes fell on the sound system. Nathan felt his stomach drop at the sight of Haley and Chase making out. He quickly took his eyes away and faced Carter, trying to become involved in the conversation.

Haley pulled away from Chase, needing time to breathe.

"When did you get here?" She asked.

"About ten minutes ago." Chase said. "You look hot, babe."

Haley smiled in embarrassment. "Oh, thanks Chase."

She was wearing a white bikini top with denim shorts with her long wavy hair flowing down her back. Still with her arms around Chase's neck, Haley turned her head to survey the party. She immediately saw Nathan standing with Carter and a few other people who had just joined them.

_My god he looks good. When did he get here?_

Haley knew she should turn and look away but she couldn't. He was mesmerising. His white shirt was hanging perfectly off his shoulders and Haley had to stop herself from gawking at his abs. She was certain that Nathan was the definition of male perfection.

Nathan, who was very disinterested in the conversation going on around him, took his chances and reverted his eyes back to see if Haley was still standing there. The moment he looked over, his eyes locked with hers. He smirked, happy that he had caught her staring at him. Haley rolled her eyes in response, as if to say 'Whatever, don't flatter yourself'. Nathan laughed, pleased at how easily he could read her.

Haley turned her head back towards Chase. "I'm going to go mingle, see you in a bit?"

"Sure babe." He said.

As Haley pulled her arms back from around his neck and began to turn away, Chase dipped his head down and pulled her in for another kiss. Haley was caught a little off guard, but she responded.

Nathan winced at the sight but quickly smiled when he saw that she quickly ended it and was now walking towards him. He smirked as he looked her up and down. She looked amazing.

Haley smiled as she walked towards Nathan, quietly happy that he was checking her out. Just as she got to him, Haley turned slightly and walked past him bumping into his shoulder. She didn't want to make it obvious to Chase that she was going to talk to Nathan. Nathan understood and immediately excused himself from the group he was standing with. He caught up with her at the back of the beach.

"Ashamed to be seen with me?" Nathan asked.

"Pretty much." Haley teased.

Nathan smiled and looked her up and down again. "You look beautiful, Hales."

Haley felt her whole body tingle. "Thanks." She smiled, taking the opportunity to return the favour by looking him up and down. "You look okay too, I guess."

"Ohh, really?" Nathan laughed. "Just okay?"

"Yeah, I mean nothing that I haven't seen before." Haley teased.

"Oh please, I'm the best looking guy here and you know it. You're lucky I'm talking to you." Nathan replied with a smile.

"Oh, really? Then why are you talking to me?" Haley asked.

Nathan went to reply but couldn't think of anything clever to say. "Uhh, I don't know. I just wanted to, I guess."

Haley smiled. "Good answer."

"So does your boyfriend know that we're friends?" Nathan asked.

Haley looked at him curiously, not really sure how to answer him. "Um, not really. It's not like I've just said, 'Hey I'm friends with Nathan' or anything."

"But you haven't told him when we've hung out either, have you?" He asked.

"No." Haley admitted. "It hasn't been on purpose though. I don't even know why I haven't told him, he'll be fine with it."

Nathan smiled, happy that she was keeping a secret from Chase but even happier that the secret was him.

"I guess I should say something." Haley said with a frown. "I didn't really think about it."

Nathan nodded. "Yeah."

Haley shook her thoughts away and replaced her frown with a smile. "So you got any big plans for the summer?"

"Not really. My parents are going to Europe so I have the house to myself for a month which is awesome." Nathan said excitedly.

"Huh, you'd love living at my house then." Haley said.

"What do you mean?" He asked.

"My parents are travelling the country in an RV and have been for the past eight months. It's just me and my sister at home."

Nathan's eyes widened in surprise. "Are you serious? They trust you both _that _much?"

Haley laughed. "No. They trust _me _that much. Not Taylor. _Never _Taylor."

"Come on how bad could she be if she's related to you?" Nathan said with a smile.

Haley felt her stomach drop as she remembered how Taylor had told her that she'd had sex with Nathan. Not only had her sister had sex with the boy she was standing in front of, but her sister could have quite possibly taken his virginity too. And he didn't even seem to know who Taylor was, let alone the fact that she was Haley's sister.

"Um," Haley said, shaking her head in an attempt to clear her thoughts. "She's bad, trust me. I have to go."

Nathan frowned and grabbed Haley's arm before she started walking away. "Woah, hey where are you going? Are you okay?" He asked in concern.

"Yeah I'm fine." Haley smiled meekly at him. "I'm just going to find Brooke. I'll talk to you later."

Nathan watched her walk away in confusion. _What the hell just happened?_

A couple of hours passed by and the music seemed to have gotten louder and nearly everybody on the beach was drunk. Haley had danced with Chase while Nathan looked on in jealously, Peyton and Lucas had gone skinny dipping in the ocean, Brooke had talked to Julian and Haley secretly watched in jealously as Nathan danced with what seemed like a million girls.

On the far side of the beach, there was a large group of people sitting in a circle playing 'I Never'. Chase persuaded Haley to play. They both sat down in the circle as they listened to Theresa say that she'd never kissed a girl before. Every guy in the group as well as a few girls took a drink.

"Chase!" Rachel said, looking over at the two new arrivals. "You go, seeing as you just arrived."

At that moment, Nathan and a few of his cronies decided to join in on the game. Everyone immediately shuffled to make room for them. Haley connected her eyes with Nathan's and he gave her a small smile. She looked down at the sand in response. She couldn't get the thought of him and Taylor out of her head.

"Okay," Chase said, trying to think of something he had never done. "I've never...got into a fist fight with anyone."

Haley smiled at Chase, she always liked how he was so level headed and rational. She believed violence never solved anything and she was glad Chase saw that too.

Nathan snorted. "Of course he hasn't." He said under his breath before taking a sip from his beer bottle. Various guys around the groups took sips too.

"Okay," Rachel said. "How about a new game? Spin the bottle?" She said, eyeing Nathan. She definitely wanted a piece of him tonight.

Many people nodded their heads and Rachel put her empty bottle in the middle of the circle, on top of a piece of cardboard so it would spin properly. Haley felt fear rise within her. She hated playing 'I Never', words couldn't even describe how much she hated 'Spin the Bottle'. The thought of random guys sticking their tongues down her throat was less than appealing.

She tugged on Chase's arm. "Do we have to play?"

"Don't worry babe." He said to her. "I doubt it'll land on one of us, there are heaps of people here."

Haley nodded meekly. She _really _hated this game.

Brooke ran over and sat beside Haley. "Heard 'Spin the bottle' was going on over here."

"Yeah." Haley said.

"My favourite game!" Brooke said with a wink causing Haley to laugh slightly. "Cheer up Tutor Girl, you don't have to kiss anyone you don't want to."

Haley smiled at Brooke. She always knew how to make her feel better. "Yeah, I guess that's true."

"Okay, everyone ready?" Rachel asked and everybody nodded. "Here we go."

She spun the bottle and it landed on Julian. Rachel smirked at him and Julian looked more than a little apprehensive.

"Oh no." Brooke said with sudden anger. "I hate this game!"

Haley tried not to laugh but she didn't really want to see Rachel and Julian kiss either. When Julian didn't move, Rachel made her way over to him. She immediately attached her lips to his but he pulled away quickly, leaving Rachel less than satisfied.

Julian quickly got up and made his way to the bottle. He gave it a quick spin and as it came to a slow Haley felt fear grow inside her once again. It looked as though the bottle was about to land on her but as luck would have it, the bottle twisted just that bit further and landed on Brooke.

Brooke broke into a huge grin and turned to Haley. "Previous statement retracted. I _love _this game!"

Julian's eyes lit up as Brooke walked towards him.

"Hi." Brooke said chirpily.

"Hi." Julian replied with his signature adorable smile as he leaned in and softly kissed her. The kiss lasted a few seconds and the two broke apart. Brooke felt as though she was about to faint.

"Thank you Miss Davis." He said, then leaned in and whispered in her ear. "That was a much better kiss than the previous one."

Julian turned and went to sit back down. Brooke whipped her head around to look at Haley. She opened her mouth and silently squealed at her best friend in excitement. Haley did the same thing in return and Nathan laughed as he watched the interaction.

Many spins later, Theresa spun the bottle and it landed on Chase.

Haley stiffened slightly.

"I don't have to if you don't want me to." Chase whispered in her ear.

Haley looked up at him and smiled. "It's okay, it's only a game, right?"

Chase smiled and kissed her on her forehead. "I promise I won't like it."

Chase stood up and went and gave Theresa a light kiss on the lips. Haley watched on with a scrunched up nose. She didn't really know how to feel about it. It didn't feel as bad as she had expected though. However as Chase spun the bottle, Haley realised that he was going to have to kiss someone else as well. She knew it was just a game but watching other people kiss her boyfriend wasn't exactly what she wanted to be doing.

Haley watched as the bottle came to a stop, pointing directly at her. She never thought that she'd be happy the bottle landed on her, but this time she was. Everyone laughed in the group except for Nathan.

"Got lucky there, didn't you Chase?" Carter yelled out.

Nathan shot him a look of death. "Perfect." He said under his breath.

Haley stood up and Chase pulled her in, putting his lips on hers. As he deepened the kiss, Nathan cleared his throat not wanting to watch the two of them any longer.

Haley pulled away in embarrassment.

"Don't worry, I'll still love you afterwards." Chase said to her with a laugh and walked back to his spot.

Haley's heart sank as she realised that she had to spin the bottle. She'd completely forgotten about it. She looked around the circle at everyone's expectant faces in horror.

Nathan noticed how uncomfortable Haley looked and immediately he knew she didn't want to do this. He definitely didn't want her to do it either.

"Alright, I think it's time the game ended." Nathan announced. Haley looked at him gratefully.

A few people looked disgruntled but nobody wanted to object to Nathan. Soon, everybody was walking off in different directions. Chase walked up to Haley and put his arm around her shoulder.

"Good timing, hey?" He said.

"Yeah." Haley said with a small laugh.

"Not really." Brooke said. "I wanted to see Haley make out with some random!"

Haley rolled her eyes at her best friend just as Lucas walked up to them.

"Eww, Brooke." Lucas said. "I definitely didn't want to see that."

Haley smiled at her friends and then looked around for Nathan. She found his eyes looking directly at her.

"Thank you." She mouthed to him.

He nodded in response and gave her a small smirk.

"Anytime." He mouthed back.


End file.
